A COUNCIL cabinet member has denied claims that he has failed to prevent the "destruction of family housing" in Waltham Forest.

Planning committee member Cllr Alan Siggers asked enterprise cabinet member Cllr Terry Wheeler why he had failed to implement a mechanism which would allow councillors to turn down more applications to convert family size homes into flats.

The question at the full council meeting came after months of frustration among planning members, who feel they cannot turn down the applications because the authority's current policies do not allow it.

Mr Wheeler responded by rejecting the claim that he had failed to act.

He then said the authority's unitary development policy was out of date and had failed to anticipate the high demand for flats in the south of the borough.

The policy will be updated, but not until 2011.

Cllr Wheeler said that in the meantime he has asked for an interim planning policy to be introduced that would give members more power to turn down applications, but said this was delayed because of "lack of resources".

A new head of planning policy would soon be employed and he or she would produce the new document.

But then Cllr Wheeler said he believed the planning committee was able to turn down the applications anyway.

Cllr Wheeler said: "It is a matter of some disappointment that Cllr Siggers as an experienced member of the planning committee could not help the committee to find the reasons to reject officers' recommendations and refuse applications.

"We may have lost some of these cases at appeal, but I think it is important that we test this area and demonstrate the damage these properties are causing. Still, help will soon be at hand."

Over the past few months Cllr Wheeler has angered members by calling in flat conversions to be considered by the committee. They claim that Cllr Wheeler is aware that members cannot presently turn them down.