Residents applaud after new homes plan rejected
RCBCResidents cheered after controversial plans for a housing development in Guisborough, which prompted 600 written objections, was rejected.
Members of the local community piled into a meeting of Redcar and Cleveland Council's regulatory committee, where councillors spent more than three hours discussing a proposal by Miller Homes to build 67 houses on farmland near Hutton Lane.
Despite planning officers recommending approval, subject to conditions, councillors rejected the plans.
Grounds for their rejection included concern over access and highway safety, and the impacts on ecology and the character and appearance of the surrounding area, , according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
The council had received more than 600 written objections to the development following a consultation, while its arborist objected to the removal of 30 trees to make way for the new estate.
RCBCSeveral Guisbrough councillors spoke against the plans.
Councillor Bill Suthers said it was "another development filling in the green lungs of the town".
Councillors cited issues around sewage releases into local watercourses during periods of intense rainfall, as well as flooding.
Suthers said the existing sewer system was overwhelmed when it rained heavily and no enhancements had been proposed to help it cope.
Councillor Julie Hart said Hutton Lane was already "gridlocked" and the development was likely to bring a further 300 cars a day.
Another councillor, Jemma Joy complained the plans contained "many unanswered questions and inconsistencies" and said the site's role as an established green corridor was "really important".
Councillor Bill Clarke said Guisborough had already supplied a quarter of the borough's previous targeted requirement for new homes.
In a written comment he said: "I simply ask the regulatory committee to stand up for Guisborough residents and refuse this application and not to buckle under from a threat of the developers appealing and leaving [the council] with high legal costs."
'Substantial benefits'
There were also clashes over ecology assessments, with a report prepared by a consultant ecologist on behalf of Miller Homes countered by another report prepared by a resident.
But Michael Hepburn, a planning agent representing Miller Homes, said the firm was delivering a £13.7m investment with "substantial benefits".
He said the plans helped meet local demand for new housing and constructing the development would create 190 direct and indirect jobs.
He said the application complied with all relevant local and national planning policies and the local drainage system had been "robustly assessed".
He maintained the housebuilders' proposal to create a sustainable drainage system and retain half the site as green space would actually reduce the risk of flooding.
Furthermore, economic analysis by Miller Homes suggested there would be an increase of £145,000 a year in council tax receipts once the larger properties were fully occupied, the meeting heard.
However, councillors voted unanimously to reject the plans.
