A block of six flats in South Croydon has been given the green light despite concerns they will impact on the privacy of neighbours.

A new two-storey building, with homes in the roof space, will be built on the site of a garage and part of the back garden at 59 Rectory Park.

More than 30 residents objected to the ‘back land’ development.

But Croydon Council’s planning committee approved the proposal from the applicant named as Mr Harvey when they met on Thursday, May 30.

Senior planning officer at the council, Louise Tucket, described the site as an “unused and overgrown” area of the garden. 

She added: “An ecological survey was carried out – no badger setts were found on the site.”

The plans were referred to the committee by Councillor Tim Pollard who represents Sanderstead ward for a “significant loss of privacy” for half a dozen homes. 

He said: “It will be relatively unobtrusive from the street, but it will be anything but unobtrusive for the large number of neighbours who back onto this area.”

He added that there have been a number of high speed accidents on Rectory Park and said that if the plans were for a couple of houses instead of flats it would have less impact on surrounding houses.

But a report considered by the committee said: “The proposed building would incorporate balconies within the front and rear elevation at first floor level, which are sensitively designed to minimise overlooking, but not significantly increase the buildings mass to an unacceptable degree.

“Overall, it is considered that the design integrates into the sites and surroundings whilst maximising the number of units that can be delivered.”

And Councillor Clive Fraser agreed that overlooking was not a problem. 

“This is a challenging site to develop – it is a back land development. I’m not normally in favour of those developments, but it has been considered,” he said. 

“There could be issues about overlooking but largely they have been addressed.”

The plans were voted through with six in favour and four against.

The flats will include a new access road from Rectory Park, six car parking spaces and 12 for bikes.