The Sir George Robey pub before it closed down 

A councillor’s plea for affordable homes on an empty site has prompted the Town Hall’s housing chief to relook at a planning application.

During Thursday’s full council meeting, Cllr Gary Heather, a Labour representative for Finsbury Park, asked for his colleagues to reconsider an application by developer TP Bennett to build a nine-storey hotel on the former site of The Sir George Robey pub.

The legendary pub in Seven Sisters Road was a famous music venue in the 1980s and hosted a range of punk and DIY artists. It closed down in 2004 and demolished a few years ago.

Executive member for housing, Cllr Diarmaid Ward, said the site was currently in private ownership and added: “It is on a very busy road and backs onto a railway. The site is exposed to high levels of noise and vibration. We have worked hard to see if we can develop affordable housing, but not every site is suitable.” Cllr Heather responded to say the near by City North development was also in close proximity to the railway.

He said: “ I don’t feel, as a local ward councillor, it would be acceptable to see this go through without it being questioned. Will you go back and look at this again to check it definitely can’t get done?”

To which Cllr Ward responded to say he would re-examine the application: “I am very happy to go back and look at this just one more time.”