A DECISION on converting the top of an old pub into flats was deferred at a planning meeting on Monday night.

The ground floor of 132 Ryefield Avenue, Hillingdon, has been a Costcutter supermarket since the summer, something which angered neighbours when the developer used a planning loophole to have the scheme approved.

There were 141 letters of objections and two petitions of a total of 134 signatures against the upper storey development, Hillingdon Council officers originally recommended approval for the flats, but this was not backed by councillors at Monday’s meeting.

The former Oak Tree pub changed use earlier this year when the developer submitted an application to convert the ground floor into a supermarket after planning permission was twice refused for a combined scheme involving the supermarket and flats.

Now developer Satkunarajah Kandasamy has submitted an application for the flats and seemed likely to get approval after a battle which has lasted more than two years.

The application up for consideration on Monday at the south and central planning committee meeting, at Hillingdon Civic Centre, was to convert the upper floors of the building into three flats, containing a total of five bedrooms, and the provision of five parking spaces.

Residents who signed the petition are worried about the size of the parking bays, and potential conflict with delivery lorries.

Councillors considered the points raised by petitioners, and deferred a decision pending a site visit by officers to the site for further examination.

The reason for the deferral was uncertainty over parking conditions and fears over excessive illuminated lighting.

Petitioner Sam O’Neill, of Ryefield Avenue, said at the meeting: “The back of this property attracts youths and anti-social behaviour, and if these flats were to be built, it would cause more problems.”