Politicians tonight rejected a controversial plan to build 48 flats in the centre of Rickmansworth.

Developer St William Homes submitted proposals to build the flats on the former gasworks site in Wharf Lane, Rickmansworth.

Planners at Three Rivers District Council had said the proposal should go ahead.

But councillors rejected the application, citing concerns over the size of it.

The development would have been split into two four-storey blocks.

One member of the planning committee, Cllr Ann Shaw, said it would have been an “overdevelopment” of the area.

She added: “It is a really important site in Rickmansworth next to the conservation area and near the Green Belt.

“We need a development we can be proud of and the conservation officer described the design as mediocre at best.

“Twenty homes is what we deemed to be appropriate.”

Cllr Peter Getkahn, also a member of the planning committee, said: “I have always believed that area should be a mix of homes.

“What we need is a good environment for children and young couples who want to start a family.

“That needs a mix of houses and flats.”

Cllr Phil Brading also criticised plans for just five visitor parking spaces in the proposal.

St William Homes withdrew previous plans for 66 flats just days before a decision was due to made there. They were heavily criticised by the previous planning committee.

Owner of Croxley Hall Fisheries Paul Sansom-Timms warned the committee that drilling down into the ground could release pollutants into the aquifer underground.

He warned these chemicals could then seep into groundwater supplies.

“One of the other main problems with this proposal is that it sits on a flood zone," he said.

“The dreadful pictures of flooding that we have seen on the television in the north of England could easily have been Rickmansworth.

“It is a unique town in that there is three rivers running through it and in 2014, all three of them burst their banks, flooding homes in Talbot Road and the bottom of Scots Hill was also flooded. So many people suffered and it could have been so much.”

He warned against the use of historical data and criticised St Williams Homes for not planning to boost flood defences – in the form of the Chess Wall - if they were planning to develop on the site.

Sean Ellis, Chairman of St William Homes, said the development would have created employment and education opportunities and would have helped address the housing shortages in Three Rivers.

He said: “We bought this site in 2014 and will be responsible for bringing it back into use.

“We see this development as an opportunity to contribute towards the regeneration of the town.”

He added that if the proposal had gone ahead, it would lead to £425,000 in new homes bonus for Three Rivers District Council.