A TOWERING development rising 23-storeys is the latest to ignore the needs of Deptford people, a community group says.

The Cannon Wharf project, approved by a Lewisham planning board last week, will see the current business centre at Evelyn Street demolished and replaced with 696 flats and office space - including a 20 and 23 storey tower.

But Pepys Community Forum, which helped organise petitions with 500 signatures against the plans, is appealing to the Greater London Authority over the decision.

Forum chairman Malcolm Cadman said many of the Cannon Wharf flats would be luxury purchases, with just 20 percent of the flats designated affordable housing and a tiny proportion available for rent - pricing many people out of the market.

He said: "It will not offer any intergration with the local community.

"They're changing the character of Deptford to be, essentially, gentrified, moving a new type of person into the area.”

Mr Cadman is concerned the cumulative effect of a host of developments in the pipeline, including the £1bn, 3,500 home Convoys Wharf site, would be to change Deptford for the worse.

He said: "These buildings are separate from the real life that's going on here. They come home, sleep, and go to work again.

“It will give no benefit to Deptford's population.”

He added: "This was one of the few areas that's left to provide local employment and give Deptford people the chance to start businesses."

The redevelopment is expected to offer 430 jobs on site.

London Business Centres Ltd, which owns the site, was unavailable for comment.

The Lewisham Council Strategic Planning Authority approved the plans by four votes to three, with chairman Councillor John Paschoud having the final say.