ONE of the last places in the borough where children can play safely in the street will disappear, according to residents, if plans for a controversial access road are approved.

Pharmacist Ali Mashadi has won permission to build four homes next to Keats Close in Wanstead, but needs to secure permission for a new access road before construction can start.

Redbridge Council will meet on Wednesday to consider his application along with a petition against the plans signed by 30 residents, and 12 letters of objection.

John Craig, 50, of Keats Close said: “All you need is for one visitor to not be paying attention and you get a child hit.

“The alternative is that children don’t play there and that’s hardly fair.”

He said residents were also worried about security in the close if the extra houses were built.

“At the moment if anybody comes into the close they have to be visiting one of us, but this would effectively create though traffic,” he added.

“We will have any number of people from the Duke of Edinburgh and Nightingale pubs on their way past, back up to the High Street."

Thiagarajan Ramachandran, 77, of Keats Close added: “We came here for the tranquillity and you pay a premium to live in a close like this.

“Nightingale Lane is a very narrow road, which has a lot of cars parked in it and if spaces are lost here, it would mean more cars parking in Nightingale Lane.”

Mr Mashadi, who runs Wanstead Pharmacy in Wanstead High Street said: “Some issues are of the nature that they can't be resolved, like access through Keats Close - it's the only way to get to the property.

"Everything that the council raised with us, we went through various bodies to satisfy."

The final decision on the road will be made by the Planning Inspectorate after the council took too long to make up its mind. But the inspectorate has asked the council to make a decision anyway which it will use as the basis for its ruling.

A council spokesman said: "Redbridge Council did not determine this application within eight weeks for two reasons.

"Firstly, despite numerous requests, the applicant failed to provide adequate information about a tree on the site.

"At one stage officers considered refusing the application because of the lack of this information but the applicant desperately asked to be given more time to provide it.

"The Council reluctantly agreed to give the applicant this opportunity.

"Then, having provided the information, and in the knowledge that a report had been prepared for Regional Planning Committee West, the applicant lodged the appeal with The Planning Inspectorate.

"This decision was also delayed because of highway issues that were raised by officers regarding access with the adjoining site."

• For the council’s decision go to guardian-series.co.uk.