Residents flocked to a town council meeting to voice their anger at the authority's decision not to object to a controversial housing development.

The group of 30 residents attended the recent Guisborough Town Council meeting to protest about the planning sub-committee's view on the proposal by Newett Homes to build 56 houses on land next to the Hutton Meadows estate.

A similar application to build 65 homes on the site was rejected by Redcar and Cleveland Council in February on the grounds that it did not meet council policy, regarding the potential effect on the neighbouring area.

The site is one of the remaining green areas in the centre of Guisborough.

Darlington and Stockton Times: Protesters at the Guisborough Town Council meeting on Thursday, December 21, to lobby councillors

Residents on the Hutton Meadows estate have objected strongly to the latest plans. In particular, residents of Trefoil Close have protested that their once-tranquil cul-de-sac, adjoining a green area full of wildlife, will be turned into the only main access for the proposed estate.

The protesters were invited to speak to the town council. Jill Ellison, of Trefoil Close, said that Redcar and Cleveland Council's strategic planning team had objected in December 2021 due to the high density of housing, the impact of access, the difficult connectivity, and the absence of demand. It had concluded that these issues outweighed any justification of adding to the housing land supply.

Darlington and Stockton Times: The proposed building site with the Hutton Beck on the left and Trefoil Close on the right

Mrs Ellison claimed that much of the documentation in the planning application was out-of-date, misleading, and inaccurate. She pointed out that the development would cause a huge rise in traffic through the estate, past two primary schools, as Newett’s own traffic assessment estimated an additional daily 260 car movements to and from the new estate.

Paul Chester, a naturalist and ecologist, said that the wildlife assessment in the planning application was inaccurate, while the wildlife survey had used out-of-date methods. He maintained that the area contained protected species with rare, irreplaceable habitats.

Darlington and Stockton Times: The road, currently a cul-de-sac which would become the main entrance onto the building site, and the only exit and entrance for the 56-house estate traffic thereafter

Mike Heagney, from Tudor Croft, on Stokesley Road, said that Hutton beck flowed through his gardens. In the 1930s, a 12-inch sewer had been built from Hutton Village down to Stokesley Road but, because it could not cope with the volume at times, began blowing off manhole covers. To cope with this, Northumbrian Water had fitted a hydro-brake to reduce the sewer to six-inches wide. He said that since it had been narrowed, it had only been able to handle dry conditions but now, every time it rained, huge volumes of sewage and rainwater, ran straight in to the beck in his garden.

Darlington and Stockton Times: The sewer outfall sign recently erected by Northumbrian Water at the side of Hutton Beck on the proposed building site

Mr Heagney said that Northumbrian Water had promised construction of a new sewer in 1988/89 but this had never occurred, and complained that using this sewer for another 56 houses was intolerable. He appealed to the council to object to the application.

Guisborough Town Council Mayor, Councillor David Johnson, said that the town council planning sub-committee would look again at the application on January 10, and would report to the full town council on January 18, when a decision would be made, considering the views of the protesters.

Councillor Peter Berry said that the vote to be taken at this meeting should be published.