OBJECTIONS to proposals for nine houses on farmland near Butterknowle have been made to the county council – with some residents angry at not being told about the scheme.
The application was submitted by Glynnis Holland, of Paddock Wood House, Butterknowle, in October. She wants to build a mix of six three bedroomed homes and three four bedroomed houses with garages on land adjacent to her own property on Lands Road.
However some residents living closest to the site have been angered at being omitted from the county council’s notification list.
Richard Lumb, of Lands Road, said: “My property looks directly onto the proposed development and is even included on the site location plans. It was purely by chance that I found out about the plans. I strongly object to the plans.
“This is currently a greenfield site and building a small housing estate on this will have a detrimental effect on the character of the area.
His neighbour, Carolyn Orton, was also angered at not being notified of the proposed development. She said: “I was unaware of this planning application until I read about it in the Teesdale Mercury.
“It [the site] sits well outside of the housing limits of Butterknowle and as such if planning permission was to be granted for this proposed development, it would then open the floodgates for more planning applications to further develop the remainder of Lands Road.”
In addition to these objections, residents of four properties at Abbott’s Houses, a stone terrace which faces the site, are also opposed to the plans, despite the scheme incorporating an off-road parking area for eight vehicles.
Tim and Siobhan Viggars, who live there, said: “The only justification given for this project is that of providing affordable houses. The parking seems to be a gesture put in with little thought to the actual nature of the vehicles that currently park on the verge and what they would do should the verge be converted to a footpath.”
Objections have also been submitted by Lynesack and Softley Parish Council and Richard Cowen, for the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said the application represents “a significant incursion into open countryside” and “is likely to cause unreasonable harm to the landscape”.
The plans are expected to be put before Durham County Council’s planning committee before the end of the month.
