Residents gather outside Castle House to object to its demolition

A MEETING descended into anger on Tuesday after planners cleared the path for developers to demolish a 1960s building and rebuild it three times larger – with an 11m deep basement.

Cries of “shame on you” rang out in the council chamber and live web feeds were halted as objectors to the redevelopment of Fitzroy and Castle House in Old Street made their feelings known. Islington’s committee granted approval in a 3-1 vote of councillors.

Green councillor Benali Hamdache, who voted against the scheme, said after the meeting: “We’re increasingly aware that knocking down buildings is very bad for the planet. The development also impacts neighbours’ light. All together, it’s not good enough.”

He said the plan, presented by developer the Lion Group, did not meet the Greater London Authority’s current aspirational benchmarks for sustainability.

Objectors say they are horrified that they will have to live next to drilling and jack hammering potentially for years as the basement – set to be the depth of the current building’s height and 100,000sqm – is excavated.

Vulnerable, house-bound residents whose homes will be just metres from the site will lose up to 100 per cent of the light in some of their rooms as a result of the new building’s height and width, the meeting was told, although a storey was removed and the top floors inset from previous proposals.

Developers had been sent back to the drawing board on three earlier occasions.

Carol Grace, a resident at Epworth House, told the panel: “My husband John, who is here today, suffers from anxiety and depression. We are dreading this development more than anything – he will not be able to function.”

She criticised the council for carrying out a disability assessment of the block without visiting the residents, six of whom are wheelchair-bound.

Labour councillor Paul Convery said he would “cheerfully” have voted to reject the plan, but said he needed to “bear in mind” the possibility of the developers winning their bid on appeal.

“My hunch tells me that I think that an inspector would probably grant an appeal if this went to appeal,” he said.

“Regrettably, I think this is a scheme that we probably do need to approve.”

Labour councillors Martin Klute and Toby North also voted in favour of the scheme, with Cllr Klute telling the meeting: “It scrapes it, I’m afraid”.

Cllr Hamdache said he felt the scheme did “the bare minimum” in terms of offsetting harm caused to the community.

Councillor Klute, speaking afterwards, defended the committee’s decision, saying “wherever possible working with existing buildings is preferable,” but that there were “all sorts of things wrong with that particular building.” He added: “In the 60s and 70s, a lot of very cheap office blocks were thrown up with almost no insulation, minimal concrete and extravagant heating systems. They’re almost as expensive to refit as to start again.”

A spokesperson for the Castle and Fitzroy team said: “We are now looking forward to continuing to work with residents and stakeholders to deliver a great scheme on an important site.

“There is a significant improvement to the area by taking a half empty building which has an outdated and inefficient plant and creating an outstanding architectural contribution.

“The benefits to the scheme include the creation of 28,000sqm of office space, including 2,000sqm of affordable workspace; a landscaped roof; a new bar and restaurant and nearly 3,000sqm for a new gym.”

They said they were also making a £6million community levy payment.