PLANS for a 14-bedroom block of flats on a derelict site are to go to appeal to the anger of nearby residents.

Permission to erect the block, on the former site of Wintry Park Service Station, in Thornwood Road, Epping, had previously been refused by Epping Forest District Council over fears its bulk would dominate nearby houses and create parking problems.

But Developers Insigniacorp Ltd have now taken the case to the Planning Inspectorate with the closing date for representations set as July 14.

Pat Seager, of Thornwood Road, objected to the plans originally as the new flats would be built right up to the border of her house.

She said: “I do think it’s overdevelopment of the site. My house doesn’t face the main road as most houses do so the whole of my house faces the site. If you look at the plans it’s approximately four foot from my home. I would be facing a solid brick wall.

“I just think if you look at the whole street scene along here you’ve got one and a half storey bungalows, you’ve got two-storey houses, and alms houses. Then on the end of it the application is for a block of flats which I really don’t think fits in with the scene along the road itself.

“I’m fully aware that it’s a brown field site and there will be development along there. I’m not against development, I just feel that it needs to be slightly more open. The intensity of the development here is three times that of the St Margaret’s Hospital site.”

Colin Babb, whose property is near the proposed site, has also objected to the scheme.

He said: “It’s not in keeping with the local area and it’s overdevelopment. It’s a huge development for a small site. It will dominate the sky line, it’s higher than anything else around it. It’s just inappropriate for that site.

“The developers just need to use a bit more brains sometimes than they do. If they’d been a bit more sympathetic with the scale of the development they’d probably have got everyone’s support but they’re looking to maximise their profits.”