Plans for a 21-storey block of flats were given the go-ahead last night.

Waltham Forest Council’s planning committee unanimously approved plans for 350 homes on a site in Forest Road, where Blackhorse Lane car park now sits.

Half of the homes will be affordable housing – split between 40 per cent affordable rent and 60 per cent shared ownership – and 43 wheelchair-accessible homes.

The site, which has been designed and will be managed by Barratt Homes, will also house space for businesses on the ground floor and will be mainly car-free, with 663 cycle storage bays.

No members of the public came to last night’s meeting to raise any objections to the plans and a spokesman for Barratt Homes said they had conducted an “extensive” consultation of those living and working nearby.

According to their figures, 83 per cent of people responded positively to the proposals.

The developers also said they had “done all they could” to publicise the loss of the Blackhorse Road car park as a result of the scheme, with the help of Transport for London who carried out their own consultation on the issue.

Councillors on the committee did raise concerns about the loss of disabled parking bays right next to the only step-free access station in the borough, but were reassured that developers would work to replace these as part of the plans.

Cllr Marie Pye, who represents Leytonstone ward, praised the scheme, calling it “a really exciting, good development which has been well designed and has flats of a good size.”

She did, however, express her “deep concern” that only five wheelchair access homes would be for either affordable rent or shared ownership.

Cllr Pye said: “It is wholly unacceptable that only one wheelchair accessible unit is for affordable rent and 90 per cent is for private sale.

“There are dozens of people waiting for wheelchair accessible homes at affordable rents in this borough and it is not acceptable.”

Developers reassured her that this would be looked into and negotiated with council officers as a condition of the planning permission being granted.

The issue of overcrowded trains at Blackhorse Road was also raised by Cllr Alan Siggers, leader of the Conservative group and of Valley ward.

He said: “I have a real concern for the direction we are travelling in at the moment, I know people who have to go all the way to Walthamstow Central just to get on a train.

“We are ramming stuff in around transport links with no thought to capacity. This is an overdevelopment, but what are you going to do. What is not these days?

“I just have a generally uncomfortable feeling about this. I am kind of unhappy but I am a pragmatist and I know which way this is going to go.”

Cllr Jenny Gray was chairman for the meeting. She said: “I do not want to lose such an important scheme with such a fantastic affordable rent split over a few car parking spaces.

“We do not want to emulate Brexit.”

Developers reassured the councillors that the affordable rent flats were genuinely affordable and that they would be offered to people on the council house waiting list.

The plans were unanimously approved with all councillors voting in favour of granting planning permission.