Elderly residents in a block of flats have expressed concern over plans to open a restaurant nearby, fearing that noise and smells will affect their quality of life.
Dawn Green, 89, who has spent the last four years at Gidea Lodge in Gidea Park, claimed residents would not be able to open their windows once the restaurant opens.
She was joined by Lesley Denman, 56, her daughter, and Pauline Mount, 80, a fellow resident and director of Gidea Lodge, in expressing their disdain for the plans.
Gidea Lodge, a series of independent living flats directed by the trio in Main Road, houses around 35 people and includes 12 flats that front the car park behind the proposed restaurant.
Pauline, who has lived there for 14 years, said those residents would be forced to close their windows and claimed it would restrict their lifestyle.
"They [those residents] would always have their windows wide open until the last thing at night, but if you've got a lot of fumes, a lot of noise coming in, that's going to restrict their lifestyle and make them feel like prisoners in their own flats," Pauline said.
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"You don't want all those aggravations going on in your life when you're retired," Pauline, 80, added. "You just want a peaceful lifestyle."
A planning application, P1145.23, for a change of use from a shop, the former Olive Well, into a restaurant was approved on February 16 by Havering Council.
Under its conditions for accepting the plans, the council stated that suitable equipment should be installed to remove or disperse odours from the flue to the restaurant's rear.
A scheme to control the noise and vibration of the ventilation system should also be included, the council continued, and no sound reproduction equipment shall be place in the outside seating area to prevent noise nuisance.
But Dawn was not convinced and felt it would disrupt the peace and quiet of the lodge's gardens.
"It's just not fair," she said. "We will hear a lot of noise in the summer - we have beautiful gardens. The smells and the noise are going to be a total inconvenience," she added.
Lesley, Dawn's daughter, added that car parking could be a problem.
"Where they're [people connected to the restaurant] going to park, I don't know," she said. "My concern is the worry of the residents, of what's going on around them because they just want peace and quiet in their latter years."
Pauline agreed with Lesley on this point, and feared a delivery service would be disruptive.
"We're anticipating cars and motorcycles parked in our driveway," she said. "We get quite a few callouts from the fire brigade, so anything that blocks our driveway is a major concern."
A Havering Council spokesperson said: “Planning permission for the mixed use of a restaurant and take away was granted and it is not yet known whether the site will be used for both or as just a restaurant which would not need planning permission.
“Whatever is decided by the business, we want to ensure that it doesn’t affect the quality of lives of nearby residents and the owner would need to ensure that running the business doesn’t cause a nuisance when it comes to fumes, smells and noise.
“Any issues can be reported to the council, who would then carry out an investigation," the spokesperson added.
We approached Churchill Estates Management, which runs Gidea Lodge, for comment.
The Recorder was unable to contact applicant Nusret Uguz for a response.
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