MORE than 60 objections have been lodged after plans for a housing development on the edge of a dale village were submitted.
Residents in Cotherstone, angered at the prospect of another development in the village, have cited flooding, loss of wildlife and insufficient demand for housing in their letters to Durham County Council. They are opposing the application to develop a 0.9 hectare field at Moor Road.
The applicants say they want to build an eight home estate with a mix of two, three and four bedroom houses using traditional materials in keeping with the surroundings.
A mature sycamore tree would form the centrepiece of a new “village green” and it is also proposed to create a second right of way through the land, linking an existing footpath and public space.
In a design statement Ian Lyle, of ELG Planning, said garages have been purposefully omitted from the proposed site to reflect the “vernacular style” of the village.
Mr Lye added: “A scheme can be readily delivered that respects the layout of the surrounding area while retaining the rural atmosphere of the village.”
The parish council held an extraordinary meeting last month to discuss the application. Some 22 residents attended the meeting when the council agreed to object to the proposal.
Since then 64 residents from the village and further afield have aired their views on the scheme, which is bordered by the popular Tees railway walking route.
Cotherstone resident, Barbara Lucas said a previous social housing development in the village had been meant for local residents but has tenants from as “far afield as Middlesbrough” . She added this latest proposal “is just a developer jumping on a money-making bandwagon” .
Another resident, Cheri Sowerby, said: “The loss of farm land is slowly ruining this beautiful landscape and county that many people come to visit each and every year.”
She added a previous development in the village [Birkett Close] has suffered substantially from flooding and urged the council not to make the same mistake in allowing a development to be built on land prone to this.
Phil Crichton, secretary of the community group Trees for Cotherstone, has also put forward an objection. The group, which formed 15 years ago to plant native trees in field boundaries, said it was “concerned to learn of the application which proposes the removal of several healthy mature trees” .
In her letter, Pippa Leech, of The Green, Cotherstone, pointed out that the proposed site was outside the village boundary.
She said: “I note that there is to be a new village green created in the development.
“Who would be responsible for maintaining this? To leave this to the parish council is both arrogant and presumptuous.
‘They are already overstretched with the maintenance of existing greens.”
Ms Leech added: “There has always been stress on the drainage at the south end of the village with flooding from the beck causing distress and anxiety to residents in the East Green area.
“This is another reason why this site is unsuitable for development.”
