PLANS to exclude a large part of an attractive leafy estate from special protection against developers have been met with anger by residents.

In 2010, residents of the red brick Monkhams estate in Woodford Green, started a campaign for the area to be granted conservation area status, giving it special protection against disfiguring developments.

In June, at an Area 2 Committee meeting, councillors granted £3,950 to fund a six week public consultation, in which conservation experts assessed the architectural merit of the area.

The estate was first developed in 1914, and post-war Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee lived in Monkhams Avenue for a time.

On the basis of the survey, council officers are now recommending that only the southern part of the area, which is bordered by Kings Avenue, Queens Avenue, Monkhams Lane and The Green be granted conservation area status, arguing that its “attractive streetscapes” constitute “an excellent example of pre-World War One suburban development.

The report goes on to state that the parts of the estate to the north do not merit special protection because they “are not considered to be of sufficient special or architectural interest.”

The report will be discussed at a meeting of Redbridge Council’s Conservation Advisory Panel on August 31.

The recommendations have angered residents however, who argue that streets such The Glade in the north parts of the estate are equally as attractive as those in the south part and so equally as deserving of protection from developers.

Geoff Brewer, 83, has lived on the estate for four decades.

He said: “If we want the estate to be made in to a conservation area then there is no reason why areas such as The Glade should be excluded.

"It is one of the first attempts to create a suburban area with a uniformity or likeness.

“I would like to see as much of the estate as possible conserved.

“As soon as a gap appears on one of the streets here people but up a matchbox in its place. I would hate to see the estate destroyed further.”

Geoff Stimpson is the chairman of the Woodford Amenity Group which has campaigned for the preservation of the estate.

He said: “There are parts of The Glade and Woodland Way that have houses of great character.

“I would have liked to have got the whole of Monkhams included. Some of the points made in the consultation though were valid and it is difficult really to refute them.”

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