THE three-year saga concerning a controversial housing development is set to continue as the decision whether to proceed was deferred yet again.

The site of Chepstow House, Leicester Road, Wanstead, has been subject of a planning row over Telford Homes' intention to build six semi-detached houses and 18 flats where the Edwardian mansion once stood.

The first application was turned down by Redbridge Council, the Planning Inspectorate and then a public inquiry, so the developers submitted a second revised set of plans.

But campaigners still considered the proposals out of keeping with the historic character of the neighbourhood while crowding too many new homes into the area.

Last month the Counties Residents Association (CRA) managed to gain conservation status for the area and members hope that the stricter guildlines will force the council to reject the new plans.

But the council's regulatory committee decided to refer the matter back to planning officers to see whether they could work with the developers to come to a compromise.

CRA chairwoman Helen Zammett said she was very disappointed by the decision.

She added: "This is now a conservation area and so a different situation exists and a higher standard must apply.

"If the block was turned down in the first place then you must think with conservation status it must be again."

Church End ward Cllr Richard Hoskins sat on the committee and said they were not satisfied with the exisiting application as the blocks were out of scale and keeping with the neighbourhood.

He added: "But if we turned the application down completely we were quite sure that Telford would immediately appeal to the Planning Inspectorate and then the council would lose all control over the development.

"Personally I don't think this will do much good as the only changes Telford have so far made have been purely cosmetic but I was happy to go along with the decision.

"I can't imagine Telford are in any rush to build on the site as in the current climate they would not be able to sell the flats anyway."

No one from Telford Homes was available for comment at time of publication.