RESIDENTS and councillors are doing battle with a retirement housebuilder for the third time after it advertised apartments before submitting a planning application.

McCarthy and Stone applied for planning permission to build a three-storey retirement apartment block with a car park in Old London Road in Patcham, Brighton, in May 2016 after being turned down by the council in 2003 and 2005.

Alistair Elliott, who lives next door to the proposed building site, co-ordinated the protest against McCarthy and Stone, setting up a website and organising meetings.

Mr Elliott, 58, said: “Rather than having a bungalow and a mature garden next door, the trees will be cut down and we will be overshadowed by a huge institution.

“The road is already vulnerable to flooding and a development of this size means that our property will be more at risk of flooding as the drainage infrastructure was not designed to cope with such volumes of residents.”

McCarthy and Stone advertised the apartments at prices of £453,000 and £339,000.

Other reasons cited by opponents are the scale of the development and the destruction of wildlife.

Mr Elliott said: “The loss of trees and gardens and their replacement by a superstructure and a car park means that less water will be absorbed and more will run off to our property.”

A total of 350 residents opposed plans at a council meeting with eight in favour of it. A public inquiry is being held by the planning inspectorate tomorrow at Brighton Town Hall.

Patcham councillor Geoffrey Theobald supports Mr Elliott, and has publicly spoken against the plans.

He said: “The proposal has the potential to increase the population on this site by more than 50 people resulting in increased pressure on a drainage system which has already had to cope with traveller sites.

“This area has a history of serious groundwater flooding resulting in raw sewage overflows into surrounding roads, gardens and basements.

“Patcham is classified as a flood risk ‘hotspot’ in the council’s surface water management plan.”

He added: “There is no pedestrian crossing in the village and no pavement adjacent to the proposed development. Consequently, there will be no safe access to the shops or to southbound buses.

“Pedestrians will be forced to cross the busy road without protection.”

Councillor Lee Wares said: “It remains vitally important that as many residents as possible come and speak to the inspector.”

A spokesperson for McCarthy and Stone said: “We are still committed to bringing forward proposals for this much-needed form of accommodation.”