Businessmen patted each other on the backs and shook hands after a controversial planning application was passed by Harrow Council.

Councillors debated proposals for the redevelopment of the former Post Office in College Road, Harrow, at a planning committee meeting tonight.

In 2011, plans from Dandara for a 19-storey skyscraper at the site were rejected by Harrow Council.

Now, an application for planning permission for a new housing development has been submitted by the Hyde Group, which features 318 flats of which 51 are affordable.

The site will feature three buildings, with building A between six and eight storeys high, building B between 12 and 20 storeys high, and buildings C and D will be 8, 11, 14 and 17 storeys high.

Also included in the plans is a community library, along with outdoor space.

A planning officer from Harrow Council gave a presentation on the proposals, along with the report from planning officers on the decision to recommend the plans for approval.

Cllrs Patel and Greek raised a number of issues about the plans, including a previous report which stated a building of these heights would have to be of ‘world class architecture’ – with the councillors asking whether buildings like the Gerkin and the Shard had set the benchmark for the design.

Irene Wears, of the Campaign for a Better Harrow Environment, spoke to give her objection to the plans.

However, the proposals were passed by councillors, with the three Tory councillors voting against the motion.