Toft Hill residents' outcry at plans for 100 homes

PEOPLE in Toft Hill are rallying against a proposal to build 100 new homes in the village.
Residents packed Toft Hill Community Centre’s foyer on Thursday last week to highlight their concerns to parish councillors about the proposal which seeks to build the homes at Holme Farm, adjacent to the A68.
Chief among the concerns highlighted were traffic safety and the impact an additional 200 vehicles would have on the A road. Late last year a van smashed into a home along the highway.
Etherley Parish Council made allowance for residents to speak for 30 minutes during the meeting, but such was the strength of feeling, the public participation section was extended to almost an hour.
One man, who has lived in the village for more than three decades, said: “We were under the impression there should be no new entrances onto the A68. For 100 houses, with each having two cars, that is 200 cars.”
He added that the proposed entrance to the new estate would be on a bend in the road, adding to the potential danger.
Others said there are no amenities in the village. A former post mistress in the village said she closed her post office about eight years ago, and yet the proposals put forward by the developer indicated that the business was still running.
Concern was raised that Toft Hill Primary School does not have capacity to take on any more children from the village, and if a new classroom were built, this would take away land from the children’s play area.
A mother said she was worried that additional young people in the village might lead to anti-social behaviour problems.
She said: “There is no baby group here. I have a toddler and there is nothing for toddlers, never mind the teenagers.”
Other amenities the village lacks, people said, were buses on Sundays and bank holidays, and shops.
One of the villagers insisted there is no demand for homes because there were many that remain unsold despite being on the market for two or three years. He added that there are a number of brownfield sites that would be better suited for housing.
A traffic assessment accompanying the application was questioned as it was completed on January 24, a time when villagers say few people are out and about because they have little money to spend so soon after Christmas.
After listening to the villagers, the parish council agreed unanimously to object to the planning application.
Parish clerk, Alison Overfield, informed the group that county councillors for the area, Heather Smith and Andy Turner, had also objected and called for the application to be put before Durham County Council’s south and west planning committee for a final decision.