Housing plan would ruin Ovington, say angry residents

FURIOUS villagers have castigated a plan to build five detached properties near their homes.
Ovington Village Hall was packed with more than 30 anxious residents at a public meeting to discuss a five-house proposal near Cliffords View.
Developer John Wain wants the development on greenfield land to the rear of the village hall. But many people are unhappy about their style, the plan’s access road and some fear there will be more than just five built if plans are approved.
Planning consultant and Ovington parish councillor Shaun Hanson said the proposal would be a “massive” addition to the village in terms of its footprint.
“Just to put it into proportion, Cliffords View has ten homes and covers half the area,” he added.
The meeting heard how Mr and Mrs Wain had originally wanted to build nine homes in the village.
But following consultations and a planning rejection they reduced the scheme to five.
Durham County Council's 2012 Strategic Land Availability Assessment labelled the field “amber”, indicating it was unsuitable for development but that could be revisited at a later date.
A report by the Wain’s planning agents said the four bedroom houses would reflect the layout of Cliffords View and “would not upset the housing balance in Ovington”.
But many disagreed.
Villager Ashley Bye said: “It’s not a sympathetic application with the environment. Developments that have gone on in the village have been incremental and organic – certainly not on a scale and over as large an area as this one.”
Dorothy Jones, who has lived in Ovington for 30 years, told planners the development would “destroy” the village’s ancient field pattern.
“I consider the proposed access from the site onto Post Office Lane to be dangerous and disruptive,” she added.
“I consider it unsympathetic – it proposes very large, new and identical houses on rising ground overlooking and dominating the hamlet.”
An ecology report has also raised concerns about the plans – noting that “no full surveys have been carried for any species at all”.
Cllr Nigel Parkes said the parish council had no inkling of the new development until checking the county’s online planning website.
“He has not spoken to any of us so we have to decide what stance we need to take,” he said.
Chartered surveyor Simon Nixon, speaking on behalf on neighbour Hazel Watt, was sure the plan was designed to get another housing developer on the site in future.
“He could have fitted five houses in the end of Cliffords View and he has not done that,” said Mr Nixon.
Cllr Parkes added: “Hazel lives in a grade II-listed home – it will be overwhelmed by these five dirty great big houses.”
Cllr Hanson believed Mr Wain was trying to get approval for “the principle” of housing on the field calling the five houses “symbolic”.
He stressed it was important residents stuck to planning criteria in their comments.
“Planning isn’t a numbers game, it's more about the substance of your comments,” he said.
“Try to focus on the most important things that have to be assessed, like how sympathetic the development is to the character of the village.
“Once they are granted we are not in control.”
County councillor James Rowlandson said: “What we’re looking at is not the finished article – it’s a way of getting planning on there.
“These houses are not in keeping with the village. It’s going to make the village another third bigger so it’s not on for a village like this.
“It’s one of the most unspoilt villages we have in the dale – it will be disappointing if they approve it.”
The parish council has requested the proposal goes before the county planning committee.