A former car dealership will be demolished and the site will be replaced with a total of 72 flats.

Last night, the planning committee at Watford Borough Council approved a proposal at the former BMW and Mini showroom in St Albans Road, near Longspring.

London Square Developments Ltd had submitted plans for a four-storey building comprising of 72 flats.

None of the flats will be "affordable" after the applicant argued the scheme would not be viable for them if it did provide any affordable housing.

The meeting was held virtually last night due to social distancing rules - but the public and press were unable to witness any discussion or presentation of the application live, after a YouTube stream of the meeting went down.

The meeting was being recorded so a recording should be made available to the public.

Council officers had tried to get the stream up and running again but were unable to fix the problem.

Leggatts ward councillor Richard Smith spoke against the application on behalf of residents, raising concerns about the density of the scheme and number of car parking spaces.

There will be 56 parking spaces and 72 cycling spaces.

Watford Observer:

An aerial view of the scheme

When it came to decision time, we have been told the scheme was passed by six votes to three, with Cllr Smith's Labour colleagues voting the application down.

Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Smith said: "I am extremely disappointed that the committee has voted for this unsuitable development.

"The scheme will have a detrimental effect on the local area and impact the lives of residents.

"Watford has a desperate need to have family three plus bed units so it's unfortunate that we have another one and two-bed development on top of the 1,066 one and two-bed units at the other end of St Albans Road."

Watford Observer:

How the site currently looks from above

The council had recommended the scheme for approval, with the council officer stating the site is "suitable for redevelopment for higher density residential use".

London Square Development, who said its scheme will "improve the look of the area" (off St Albans Road), will pay a sum of £500,000 towards the provision of affordable housing in Watford.

The developer says a financial viability report undertaken by Avison Young concludes the proposed development is not viably able to support any affordable housing provision.

Even with no affordable housing included, the applicant says in its planning report, the proposed development is not viable based upon today’s values.

It results in a profit of 11.7 per cent - compared to the required 17.5 per cent benchmark.