DEVELOPERS are for the third time seeking permission to build blocks of flats overlooking a nature reserve.

Council planners have recommended the approval of a plan for 124 flats in four blocks up to seven storeys high on Essex Wharf, which is situated between the Lee Navigation canal and Leyton Marshes, off Lea Bridge Road.

Waltham Forest Council’s planning committee are set to consider the application on January 4.

A previous application to build 144 flats in blocks up to nine storeys high on the site, which falls within the Lea Valley Regional Park, was rejected for being too high and bulky.

However, developers are currently appealing against that decision and a ruling is due weeks after the latest plans are considered by the planning committee.

But Katy Andrews of the Lammas Land Defence Committee said even the scaled down plans were inappropriate and would have a detrimental impact on nearby Walthamstow and Leyton Marshes.

The other side of the canal, which falls in Hackney, has already been developed, but she says the Waltham Forest side should be protected.

She added: “(The development) is ugly and disgusting. The plans look horrifying.

“If it gets the go ahead it sets a precedent for more housing for the Waltham Forest side of the river, of which there is none so far.

The council has received 13 objections to the application, which centre on the height, scale and density of the development, as well as the need to protect wildlife and the Lee Valley Park from ‘insensitive’ developments.

These include an objection from Hackney Council, which says the development is poorly designed.

The Lea Valley Regional Park Authority insists the development will have an ‘adverse impact’ on the open character of the area.

The Lea Valley Federation said it believes the Lea Valley is under unprecedented pressure to be used for developments which ‘would be incompatible with its unique status as a regional park’.

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