Plans to demolish a building in Eltham and replace it with flats have been rejected after residents slammed the proposal as a “danger zone” for schoolchildren.

In 2023, Hikigaya 2 Ltd applied to Greenwich Council to demolish Bridge House on 11 Crossmead in Eltham and build flats.

Bridge House is currently a single empty building.

If it had been approved, 32 new homes would have been built there, along with lots of new plants and trees.

However, the scheme has now been refused by planning officials from Greenwich Council.

At a meeting held by the Planning Board of Greenwich Council, chaired by Cllr Garry Dillon, on Tuesday (July 23), residents and the Friends of The Tarn objected to the plan.

Kim Humphries, who has lived on Crossmead for more than 45 years, said: “This will cause disruption to all local residents and schoolchildren.

“Crossmead is a busy pedestrian path to Mottingham Railway Station and bus stops along with many children going to school.”

Kim also said that one of the residents is a disabled man who is wheelchair bound and the construction “would leave him housebound”.

Kim added that once construction stairs are up, Crossmead will “become a building site with cement lorries and a danger zone for schoolchildren”.

Bill Humphries said: “While I understand the concept of making a profit, I cannot understand the idea of building 32 unaffordable homes to the existing unaffordable homes in the Greenwich area.”

Bill said that the construction would “ruin the site forever” and said if Greenwich Council went ahead with the plan, it would be “delinquent behaviour”.

Councillor Roger Tester called it an “overdevelopment" and said "it will change the look and feel of this quiet residential road”.

Dr Vince Smith, a Crossmead resident and Head of Digital Science at the Natural History Museum spoke of the environmental impact the construction would have.

He said: “A six-storey development is going to have an overbearing impact on this delicate biodiversity that exists in The Tarn.”

He added that bats and birds would be affected the most by this construction.

Peter Turner, the planning agent, and Jonathan Bailey, the architect, said that this construction would be necessary, and they need to “deliver housing in this country on a national and local level” and pointed out that it would provide homes close to public transport.

They added that the construction would “respect the local character and amenity of neighbours” and it would cause “minimum disruption” to residents and visitors of the Tarn.

Cllr Pat Greenwell asked if either of them had visited the Tarn, to which they both said they hadn’t.

Cllr Greenwell said: “How are you in a position to say that there will be minimum disruption to residents if you’ve never been there?

“How do you know what impact a six-storey building is going to have on The Tarn?”

The Planning Board sided with the residents and rejected the proposal.