Bid to build new homes on top of existing flats

By Tara O’Connor, Local Democracy Reporter

A developer wants to build homes on top of existing flats in Merton, just months after a High Court battle blocked similar plans.

Merton council originally approved plans for 15 flats on top of a block in Merton Abbey Mills in June 2021.

But its decision was quashed in the High Court as comments from the authority’s own conservation officer were not presented to the planning committee that made the decision.

In March 2022, the council refused the same application. The conservation officer said the existing development, which is in a conservation area, would be “marred” with an additional floor.

Now, the same developer has submitted fresh plans to extend the existing Bennetts Courtyard development, which is made up of 52 flats across three four-storey buildings.

RG Airspace Developments has submitted two separate planning applications for Merton council to consider. Both are for an extra floor to the current blocks, one providing 17 new flats and the other 14 flats.

Pictured top: Morden civic centre (Picture: Malc McDonald – geograph.org.uk/p/1950828)