A community group has lodged a formal objection to the latest designs for a revitalised Highgate shopping parade.

The Dartmouth Park Conservation Area Advisory Committee (DPCAAC) has reiterated its concerns about the height and bulk of proposed buildings for the parade in Swain’s Lane, which is due for redevelopment, in a letter sent to Camden Council planners yesterday.

The objection states: “A bare majority... considers the basic architecture, with tweaking, is sufficiently improved to make it ‘just tolerable’ but only if the scheme proposed offers a tangible assurance of a vital and viable future for our long-blighted neighbourhood centre and community hub.

“As the current proposals stand, we are not convinced that it does.”

Earlier this month The Earl of Listowel, who owns the parade, submitted new designs of plans to demolish the one-storey building and rebuild it as two three-storey blocks, dropping to two storeys at the corner with Highgate West Hill.

A spokesman for Lord Listowel’s design team said: “While we are disappointed to hear of the objection, we are encouraged by how the revised scheme seems to have been welcomed by others.”