RESIDENTS have welcomed another proposal to turn an "eyesore" building into shops, flats and offices.

A planning application has been lodged to develop Charteris House in Charteris Road, Woodford Green.

The three-storey former Inland Revenue building has stood empty for years and is currently fenced up and the windows are boarded up.

Gemma Smith, who lives in Charteris Road, said anything would be better than the way the building currently looks.

The 65-year-old said: "We've been banging on for years about it and I speak for a couple of my neighbours.

"The word is, eyesore. It's a mess and it was an eyesore before, it's an ugly building.

"At last somebody is taking care of the area between the building and the fence, it was always full of litter and I reported it to the council and the enforcement team cleared it up.

"The sooner the building is changed the better as it is an embarrassment at the moment."

The proposal, from Havenridge Britannia Ltd, is similar to an application which was knocked back by Redbridge Council last summer.

The main difference is the building, opposite Woodford Underground Station, would be replaced with a 3.5-storey building instead of a four storey building which was proposed last time around.

On July 21 - a year and a day after the previous plan was thrown out by the authority - the latest application to transform the vacant building was registered with the council.

The proposal is to knock down Charteris House, which stands within a conservation area, and put in a building comprising retail use at ground floor level, office use on the first floor and nine self contained flats at upper floors.

The flats would include a one bedroom flat, six two bedroom flats and two three bedroom flats with six parking spaces and 14 cycle spaces.

The previous proposal was dismissed because of concerns over a lack of parking and the latest plan has the same provision of six spaces.

The council's decision was appealed against but the Planning Inspectorate dismissed the appeal in January this year.

Redbridge NHS has been consulted about the plan and William Vote, estates strategic development manager, commented that the building is set in an area of health deficiency.

He said more homes would increase the demand for health care and to offset that a contribution of £8,121 would be needed to fund necessary improvements to local GP practices and the Wanstead polyclinic.

John Newton, of Charteris Road, agreed with Mrs Smith that something needs to be done.

He said: "If it's better than what is there then I support it. It's been like that for about four years and it's all boarded up with a tatty fence."

Leonard Bernstein, 78, who lives in Charteris Road, said he raised an objection before over access as the bend at the end of the road is tight and increasing traffic could be a concern.

He said: "I would like to see it come down and I would like to see something there for children but what do youngsters want these days?.

"The proposed development is not something I would be unhappy about. If it looked sympathetic to the area I would prefer it to what it is now."

Redbridge Council will make a decision at a later date.