CAMPAIGNERS say they are disappointed after two developments on a busy road were given the thumbs up by councillors.

Modified applications to develop the former Courts site and Tiger’s Head pub in Bromley Road, Catford, were approved during a meeting of Lewisham Council’s planning board.

Previous plans for both sites had already been approved but fresh applications were made after they were sold on.

Chairman of community organisation the Southend Village Action Group Gerald Dove, who spoke at the meeting, described the decisions as “very disappointing”.

He said: “The Courts site was the most controversial because it involves a nine-storey block.

“From our point of view, we couldn’t find any residents who agreed with it.”

The former Courts site will be redeveloped into five separate blocks ranging from three to nine storeys high, containing 117 homes.

Planning chiefs gave it the go-ahead was given after council officers advised the development would “respect the general character of the area”.

A previous application, which also included high-rise buildings, in 2008 was turned down by Lewisham Council but the decision was overturned on appeal after a public inquiry.

Mr Dove said: “Elsewhere, in places like the Ferrier and Milford Towers, these kind of blocks are being knocked down.”

Planning permission was originally granted in 2008 to demolish the Tiger’s Head pub, turning it into flats and houses.

A revised application was submitted after the site changed hands and that has also now been approved.

Officers recommended that the new plan was “satisfactory” and “that the principle of development has already been established by the previous permission”.

But Mr Dove said his group was still annoyed at losing the pub.

He said: “We’re concerned about the loss of a local social amenity.

“There was nothing wrong with it. It was being used as a pub one day and the next it was closed down.”