Plans to build flats next to a historic cinema in South London have been branded “ugly”, “heavy-handed” and “hideous” by residents.

Everyman Cinemas has sent proposals to Bromley Council for a new three-storey set of flats and shops beside its cinema on Church Road in Crystal Palace.

The design includes four new flats and two shops on the building’s ground floor. The plans for the building have received 29 objections from locals on the council’s planning portal.

One neighbour said: “[The] heavy-handed, unbalanced and utilitarian design would obscure, dominate and would be out of keeping with the simple attractive Art Deco design cinema.”

Stephen Tabberner, a local living nearby, said in a letter of objection that the plans were “completely out of character” and the building was “imposing and quite frankly ugly”.

He said: “[The building’s] proposed height (now three storeys) is completely disproportionate to its small footprint.

"It would clearly not be subservient to its parent building and in fact, would be overbearing to its parent building and its neighbours.”

The new plans follow a previous application from Everyman to build a four-storey building next to the cinema, which was later changed to three.

Another local, Stephen Eddleston-McGrath, said: “The extension is hideous and not in keeping with the buildings around it.

"The already ugly building currently in place is at least set back from the road, giving prominence to the distinctive Everyman cinema facade.

"Bringing it forward in a similarly ugly style destroys the existing look and feel of this part of Crystal Palace.”

The cinema opened in 1928 as the Rialto, according to planning documents. The building was then run as a bingo hall from 1991 and later as a Christian centre, before Everyman bought the contract for the building in 2018.

Neighbours of the building praised the cinema’s presence in the area, despite opposing the plans for the next-door building.

One local said: “The Everyman Cinema on Church Road is a huge asset for our community and long fought for, building a great deal of warm regard for the developer and planners at Bromley Council for their contribution in seeing this restoration through and contribution to the architectural variety of the area.”

DeMatos Ryan Architects said on behalf of Everyman in planning documents that the current proposal no longer has any high massing above the cinema, with the focus of the build now on the front side of Church Road.

They said: “The main change in the revised design approach detailed in this report has been to reduce the scale and massing of the development.

"The design team feel this reduced development will be more suitable for the Church Road streetscape and massing.

"The aim of the development is to deliver a modern and highly sustainable design. ”

The decision on the plans to build the new flats beside the Everyman cinema in Crystal Palace will be decided at a planning meeting for Bromley Council on January 26.

A Bromley Council spokesperson said: “An Application has been received for a three storey, part residential and part commercial development on the currently vacant land outside 27-35 Church Road, adjacent to Everyman Cinema.

"Consultation with local residents has been carried out on this application through the Planning process in the usual way and the application will soon be determined at a Planning Sub-Committee, with the published committee report setting out the officer recommendation for this decision.”

Everyman Cinemas was approached for comment, but had not responded at the time of publication