Haringey Council has denied accusations that it breached planning regulations when a development was approved while a consultation was still taking place.

A civic centre spokesperson said there was "no question of a procedural breach" after a planning subcommittee approved the council’s plan to knock down garages and build a nine-storey block of flats on land at the junction of Partridge Way and Trinity Road in Wood Green.

The application was approved during a meeting on September 14 - but the public consultation on the plans had been extended until September 23, meaning residents could have submitted comments that the committee was unable to consider.

Housing campaigner Paul Burnham, from Haringey Defend Council Housing, accused the council of breaching part of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) Order 2015, which states "the local planning authority must, in determining the application, take into account any representations received from any consultee".

Mr Burnham said: "This sets an unacceptable precedent for any future decision to be made before consultation has been concluded – not just in planning but any consultation."

The council has set a target to start building 1,000 council homes by March 2022. The new block of flats, which will provide 23 council-rent homes, will be 15 metres away from an existing 15-storey tower block, Finsbury House, and 25 metres from Newbury House, which is also 15 storeys high. 

According to the planning committee report, the council received 23 objections to the development and no letters in support. Concerns raised by opponents included claims that the scheme would be too high and lead to a loss of privacy and daylight.

Mr Burnham added: "The proposed block would cause overshadowing of existing homes and of the play cabin, cause overlooking, and create a forbidding entry to the estate. The council should reconsider these plans."

In their report to the planning subcommittee, council officers said the development "would not result in detrimental harm to neighbouring living conditions/accommodation", adding "the proposal satisfies relevant planning policy in this regard".

Mr Burnham said a group of residents had written to Michael Gove, secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, asking him to intervene to quash the planning decision. They have also asked Catherine West, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, to intervene. The residents want the application to be referred back to the committee so that all objections can be properly heard.

A council spokesperson said: "There is no question of a procedural breach. Representations made after the meeting and before the end of the consultation period will be considered, and the application will come back to the planning committee if they raise material issues that weren’t already taken into account by members.

"Issues of daylight and sunlight were considered in detail by the committee."