Campaigners who have opposed plans for a former Post Office have said the approval of ‘poor quality housing units’ will ‘wreck’ the landscape of Harrow.

Harrow council met on Wednesday, June 24 to discuss plans for the former Post Office and currently derelict site in College Road, Harrow.

Proposals from the Hyde Group feature three buildings, with building A between six and eight storeys high, building B between 12 and 20, and buildings C and D between eight and 17 storeys high.

A total of 318 flats feature in the plans, with 51 of those being affordable housing, plus a community library, children’s play area, art wall and water feature.

The application was approved by Labour councillors, with Conservative councillors Pritesh Patel, Stephen Greek and June Baxter voting against the proposals.

The cllrs 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.

Speaking to the Harrow Times after the meeting, Cllr Greek said: “This is huge missed opportunity to create something truly great in our town centre.

“Instead, these hideous tower blocks will wreck Harrow's famous and historic landscape, simply piling in hundreds of poor quality housing units as high as possible.

“It is yet another ill-judged assault by Labour on Harrow's heritage. Harrow deserves much better."

Issues highlighted at the meeting included neighbours’ worries it is “too tall, too ugly and there is no parking”.

Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Susan Hall read out a comment from the Harrow on the Hill Trust which said: “Any idea of a building on the site which might be interesting architecturally appears to have disappeared.

“What we now have are some blocks of flats which are built to look like something left over from the 1960s public housing project, done on the cheap.”

An objection from the Ministry of Defence was also raised at the meeting, after the department highlighted their concerns about the potential impact on pilot navigational aids.

Irene Wears, from the Campaign for Better Harrow Environment, was given three minutes to speak to the meeting about the campaign’s objections to the proposals.

She said: “The tallest block in this present application exceeds 19 storeys and regrettably is slab like.

“I do not consider that the buildings would qualify as ‘world class architecture’. We do not believe the planning application is acceptable in its present form.”

Cllr Keith Ferry, who chaired the meeting on Wednesday night, said: “It’s nice to see that this site is finally being developed, after being idle for so long.

“We were impressed by the high quality of architecture, and are confident this will lead to good quality homes being built for local residents.

“This development will provide much needed housing for local people, and is only the start of the Labour administration’s ambitious regeneration plans for Harrow.