Residents have stepped up efforts to block plans for hundreds of homes to be built on a Tube station car park.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has asked for a review of plans for 277 homes in blocks up to 11 storeys high at Stanmore station. The flats would all be affordable homes.
The scheme was rejected by Harrow Council after strong opposition from residents who suggested the proposals were "out of character" with the area and "didn’t meet local needs".
It would also have seen a roughly 33 per cent drop in the number of available parking spaces at the station, with 146 being removed to make way for the flats.
Harrow East Conservative MP Bob Blackman, whose constituency covers Stanmore, has launched a petition calling on people to back a campaign to stop the apartments being built on the car park.
Mr Blackman criticised the "monstrous blocks" that would make up the scheme and said they would be "far from in keeping with the local area and its amenities".
Around 950 people have signed the petition so far.
Mr Blackman said: "These plans would cause huge disruption to commuters who depend on those car parking facilities, while local infrastructure would have real problems accommodating so many new dwellings in an area where the roads are already congested.
"Stanmore is, effectively, the car park for Wembley Stadium and the terminus of the Jubilee Line. If anything, we need more car parking spaces to take the pressure off residential streets.
"While we need to build more homes; the scale of this proposal is wrong for the local area, and loss of commuter parking spaces is not acceptable."
When planning permission was rejected by Harrow Council, the borough’s Conservatives put forward an amendment that they said would reduce the chance of any appeals.
This was voted down by the Labour-majority planning committee and Tory councillor Ameet Jogia said the "door had been left open" for the mayoral review.
Sadiq Khan’s office said it would not comment on the developments due to concerns about prejudicing any hearing.
Jonathan Cornelius, head of property development at TfL, said: "We understand that the Deputy Mayor of London for planning has called in Harrow Council’s decision to refuse planning permission for 100 per cent affordable housing at Stanmore Station car park.
"Working together with housing association Catalyst, the proposals offer the potential to deliver 277 genuinely affordable homes that the capital urgently needs.
"The scheme would also greatly improve step-free access via a lift, making it easier for customers to travel, and create new commercial opportunities."
The petition can be found here.
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