A MAJOR housing and business development that the council hopes will regenerate Barking and Dagenham is gathering pace. Councillors met last week as part of the Development Control Board, to discuss the planning application for the erection of a 20-storey

A MAJOR housing and business development that the council hopes will regenerate Barking and Dagenham is gathering pace.

Councillors met last week as part of the Development Control Board, to discuss the planning application for the erection of a 20-storey building that will be comprised of offices, a cafe, and 96 one and two-bedroom flats on the former Lintons Estate, in Linton Road, Barking.

The site, renamed William Street Quarter, will also include a three-storey building to provide six four-bedroom terraced houses.

In a letter to the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation (LTGDC), which is responsible for approving the application, the council members "generally expressed support for the scheme."

Members also suggested the tower should have "more visual impact and expressed an interest in seeing the colour and texture of the materials to be used."

There were concerns raised by a visiting member, not a member of the board, about refuse collection, and the "low level of parking provision for the residential units, including parking for disabled persons."

The comments will be reviewed at the next meeting of the LTGDC Planning Committee on March 12, at which the council will find out if the application has passed the first phase of development.