Plans to build a five-storey retirement complex on a site used as a petrol station was approved last night (Wednesday).

Retirement housing developer McCarthy and Stone submitted plans to build a 43-bedroom block on Primett Road in Stevenage in November, replacing the BP garage based there.

Stevenage Borough Council’s (SBC) planning committee met last night to discuss the application, which includes provision for 30 parking spaces,

The plans have received some negative responses from nearby residents, citing insufficient parking and overcrowded housing as major concerns.

The development will also not include any affordable housing, claiming the project would not be viable if it did.

A spokesman for McCarthy and Stone, said: “Offering affordable housing is, unfortunately, an impossibility for this scheme. Of course we would like to be able to but we have to look at the practicalities of the plan.

“However the scheme will foster economic growth with greater expenditure locally, direct construction jobs and the release of larger under-occupied properties in the local housing market.

“It has been subject to a number of changes and alterations both inside and out as the scheme has evolved. It is set out that the scheme now balances out key planning considerations such that significant weight should be given to grant permission for the scheme.”