Richmond's planners have recommended approving the £40 million scheme to redevelop Twickenham Riverside, creating a new town square and heart for the area.

Details have been included in a report produced by the Council's planning officials ahead of a special meeting for councillors to decide on the scheme, which is to be held next week.

The scheme involves creating a new town square on the banks of the Thames, which will do away with existing car parks and access roads in favour of pedestrians and a new riverside promenade.

There will be two new apartment blocks, together with a pub, café, shops and public open spaces.

Significantly, the scheme involves moving the existing Diamond Jubilee Gardens to a new larger area on the site, which has proved particularly controversial.

The site will be dominated by two new buildings – one on Water Lane, which runs from central Twickenham to the riverside, and a second at Wharf Lane.

The plan is for a total of 45 apartments, with a mix of 50per cent rented at so-called affordable rents and the remainder set to be sold on the open market.

The future of riverside site has been the centre of controversy for decades with successive Council administrations unable to decide how it should be improved.

The Lib-Dems won a virtual clean-sweep at the May local elections on the basis of a policy platform which included the Twickenham Riverside redevelopment. The Conservatives, who opposed the plan, were left with just one representative on the Council.

This democratic mandate for the redevelopment has now gained the endorsement of Council planners, who have had to assess the many objections.

In their official verdict on the scheme, they conclude: "The Committee is recommended to APPROVE the application."

The report concludes: "There are clear benefits the scheme will deliver. Most notably in the provision of new public realm.

"The riverside is currently disjointed, dominated by the car park along the riverside, which severs the open space from the river, and diminishes the quality of the public realm.

"By comparison, the scheme delivers significant environmental improvements … Through the removal of the one-way system and car parking along the Embankment, and consequential reduction in the dominance of parking and moving traffic, the development allows for an enhanced public space along the riverside, that visually and physically connects with the open space throughout the development and that adjacent, providing inclusive access and improving the pedestrian and cycling environment and providing opportunities for water related uses and events."

The report argues the design will open up the access to the river front and attract people to the area.

It states: "The set back of the proposed building on Water Lane and the enhanced walkways, hard surfacing materials and landscaping will improve the link between the town centre and river, creating new vistas that will act as a pull."

It adds: "The development maintains and will potentially strengthen the retail offer of Twickenham Town centre, and provides opportunities for specialist uses.

"The café, restaurant and public house, will all activate frontages, taking full advantage of the setting of the riverside and adjacent open spaces, attract visitors, and improve the link between the town centre and the river.

"The offices are welcomed, providing valuable flexible accommodation and employment opportunities, to which substantial weight is afforded."

On the plan to deliver 45 homes, the report states: "The scheme contributes towards the Borough's housing targets in this highly accessible location, providing the appropriate mix, wheelchair housing, and affordable housing in line with policy requirements in both tenure and mix, assisting in meeting the Borough's acute need for affordable housing."

The Council report accepts the scheme does have some 'shortcomings'. These include the loss of a large number of trees and the loss of light for a number of properties along Water Lane.

It argues that moving of the Diamond Jubilee Gardens is acceptable, given that the replacement playground and public open space in the scheme is larger.

It concludes there is 'an overall uplift in open space and public open space by area and in qualitative terms, providing opportunities for facilities and events to take place in a new event space linked to the river and to the town centre.'

And adds: "Play provision is re-provided and enlarged to meet the needs of the development."

The planning meeting next week is set to be explosive with strong views on both sides of the argument. Opponents of the scheme include the Twickenham Riverside Trust, who have set up a petition to block it.

Other objections have come in from the Twickenham Society, the York House Society, the River Thames Society, CPRE and, significantly, residents and businesses on Eel Pie Island, who will lose parking and face restrictions on road access.

Criticism centres on the bulk and height of the new apartment blocks on a sensitive riverside site, the loss of trees and the changes to the Diamond Jubilee Gardens, which, they argue, make it less attractive and useful.