At a Mansfield District Council Planning Committee on Monday, councillors gave the thumbs up to plans by applicant Mr S. Nettleship, of Speeds Ltd, to build the one and two-bedroomed apartments and 1,530sqm of offices at the Nottingham Road site.

• Apartments/business units plan blocked

But objectors say the two buildings at the development –– which would be six and three storeys high –– would overlook their premises.

Michael Stevens, chairman of Cruse Bereavement Care, on Grove Street, said his organisation's car park would be overlooked by apartments and offices.

"We provide a confidential counselling service," he said. "People do go there when they are severely distressed and children go there as well."

And another objector Carol Malone, who works at Hill House, said rooms used for interviews with people who had been bereaved or had marriage break-ups would be overlooked by the development.

She told the meeting there was not enough parking proposed at the site –– which she said was already a problem in the area.

Councillors at the meeting did echo some of their concerns and said full details of the car park management plan showing how residents and businesses would share the spaces should be submitted.

But they were told by planning chief Steve Normington it would be difficult to justify refusing the plans for confidentiality reasons because any development planned for the site would be likely to have the same issues.

The development would be made up of two buildings, both of which would combine office and residential accommodation, with a car park space for each apartment to be shared with users of the offices.