Plans to bulldoze a former community centre in Poplar and replace it with housing have been approved.

Langdon Park Community Centre in St Leonards Road has stood vacant for 11 years and a new location was provided for the centre and its members in 2011.

Since then, the site has remained abandoned and has not been used.

In a Tower Hamlets Council development committee meeting on Tuesday evening (October 4), committee members unanimously voted to approve the planning application from Dowen Farmer Architects and CMA Planning Ltd.

A total of 16 of the 65 units will be offered as “affordable housing”, with five shared ownership units and 11 affordable rented units.

This meets the council’s requirements for delivering affordable housing.

The proposal consists of three main buildings, which would be three to five storeys in height and in the shape of an ‘L’ overlooking St Leonards Road, Bright Street and Byron Street.

Residents who move in will also have access to disabled parking, cycle parking, refuse and recycling facilities, and communal and private spaces.

Out of 157 letters that were sent out to the public, there were 80 responses with 76 of those in support of the proposals and four against.

Those in favour said the redevelopment of the site was good as it was regarded as an “eyesore”.

They also said the developers would introduce much-needed high-quality homes to the area which also meet the affordable housing target.

However opponents said the development was of an “overwhelming scale” compared to the rest of the local setting and would have a negative impact heritage-wise on the Langdon Park Conservation Area.

Speaking about concerns to do with heritage, case officer Oliver Cassidy-Butler wrote in the planning document: “The proposals although contemporary in nature are sensitive to the historic character of the local area, having arisen from a design-led approach which has sought to appropriately incorporate characteristic features of the local setting into the development.

“Considerations have been properly incorporated into the design process to ensure that the proposals complement the local setting, rather than try to replicate the design of local buildings and otherwise create a pastiche.”

Every member of the development committee voted in favour of the planning application.