More residents could find a home in a new luxury residential development when St John’s Wood barracks are demolished, as part of a plan first introduced by a Malaysian tycoon

In the latest request to vary the planning permission, St John’s Wood Square Ltd hopes to increase the number of homes in the large residential square from 163 to 171, and to build an apartment block to replace a group of houses.

Businessman Ananda Krishnan bought the barracks for a widely-reported £250m in 2012 after the Royal Horse Artillery Unit marched out.

There were 59 affordable units planned under the existing permissions, and it is understood that there will be a similar mix under the new proposals.

The developer already has permission, granted in April 2015, to bulldoze all the existing military barracks, the home of the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery for more than 60 years, apart from the Grade-II listed riding centre.

The riding centre will become a “private leisure facility”, at the heart of the “family-orientated development” on Ordnance Hill.

The main site will be centred around a garden square, surrounded by terraces and apartments.

There have been some anxieties over the major development and the pollution it could cause.

One neighbour wrote: “I am concerned about noise when the project starts. I am sure there is going to be lots of air pollution which needs to be considered. Parking would be a massive issue as well. We already have difficulty”.

The King’s Troops, based at the St John’s Wood Barracks since 1947, moved to Woolwich in 2012 amid street parades and fanfare, marking a sad farewell to the military presence and culture.

A St John’s Wood Square Project spokesman said: “The design incorporates the provision of sufficient on-site car parking spaces for all residents of the development, and the provision of additional vehicle spaces for visitors. Residents of the new development will be excluded from the existing controlled parking zones around the site.”

They added that the developers will also be making “significant financial contributions” to support education in the area, local play space, public art as well as other unnamed community projects.

Westminster Council originally granted permission to turn the barracks into homes in 2010.