Gleeson development refused by Durham
It is the second refusal in as many weeks from the Reform-led council, which has ignored a recommendation to approve the 70-home scheme in Leeholme.
Gleeson was looking to develop on a 7.5 acre former residential plot in the village near Coundun, which incidentally is where the other dismissed housing project was to be located.
Partner Construction had been hoping to build 156 homes on a 26-acre plot, but was refused on heritage grounds.
This Gleeson scheme was designed by Ergo and supported by Pegasus, and was to be built on vacant grassland following the demolition of 1920s terraced housing sometime in the 1980s.
At the meeting, cllr Kate Rowland of the Reform party noted the 92 objections to the development and said: “This development is the wrong scale for Leeholme – it will overwhelm the village’s traditional mining character.”
Meanwhile, cllr Anita Savory, an Independent member, warned: “While I do have sympathy with the residents, I can’t see a valid planning reason to refuse this application.
“If we do so, and the applicant appeals, and then they win, it could cost this council a tremendous amount of money.”
Given the previous housing on the site, there is already an existing road network and access points and the suggested housing mix was for one- and two-storey buildings of two- to four-bedrooms, with eight bungalows and seven affordable units in the mix.
Leeholme village is around two miles north east of Bishop Auckland and was built to house miners and their families following the opening of Leasingthorpe Colliery in 1836.
Durham County Council is made up of 65 Reform, 15 Liberal Democrat, 11 Independent, four Labour, and two Green Party councillors, as well as one Conservative.
