Plan for 215 Mandale Homes development in Yarm refused
- Published
Mandale Homes wanted to build 215 homes at Mount Leven Farm in Yarm
Plans to build 215 homes which were opposed by dozens of residents have been rejected.
Mandale Homes had wanted to build 180 houses and 35 bungalows at Mount Leven Farm in Yarm.
Stockton Council planning officers had recommended the scheme be approved, but councillors refused it permission despite officers' concerns the reasons for refusal could not be justified.
More than 100 objections were lodged including over environmental concerns.
'Appeal and costs risk'
Yarm Town Council had also opposed the scheme while 23 letters of support were sent, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
The plan was initially rejected by councillors at a meeting in October, but the decision was delayed after head of legal services Julie Butcher said none of the grounds were justifiable, invoking a protocol meant to guard against costly legal challenges to the council.
Officers looked further into the reasons to refusing the proposal - that it did not meet the needs of the ageing population, a roundabout was unsafe and unsuitable and the proposal would harm green space and the character and appearance of the area.
The council's report said: "Officers consider that the suggested reasons for refusal cannot be sustained or justified.
"To pursue a refusal of the application on those grounds would risk an appeal at a public inquiry and a strong likelihood of a substantial award of costs."
'Democratic decision'
But members of the planning committee upheld their refusal when the scheme came back before them with councillor Steve Walmsley saying: "It's not for officers to decide. It's for us to decide."
He said the "original democratic decision" for refusing was "entirely valid".
Despite objections from some councillors, the planning committee voted 5-4 to go straight to another vote about the application without hearing further representations from the planning officers.
They then voted 5-4 to refuse the plan.
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