CONTROVERSIAL plans to build 36 new homes in a field next to Marton Road on the outskirts of Gargrave have been refused.

Almost exactly a year after the application by RN Wooler and Co was lodged, generating around 400 letters to Craven District Council, the scheme for terraced semi-detached and detached one to four bedroom properties, has been rejected on grounds including a ‘significant and detrimental’ impact on the surrounding area.

The fully detailed application, which sought the building of homes, access off Marton Road, landscaping and 90 car parking spaces, was refused permission on Tuesday by officers acting with delegated powers - and will not be going before councillors at the planning committee.

The site, which is surrounded by houses on two sides, including Walton Close, is earmarked in the Craven Local Plan for the building of 44 homes and is also classed as a ‘preferred housing site’ in the Gargrave Neighbourhood Plan.

However, Craven District Council’s decision notice states three reasons why the development has been rejected - in that it ‘fails to provide a suitable density and mix of housing on the site’ and that it would result in a ‘poorly designed residential development’ which would have a ‘significant and detrimental visual impact upon the surrounding area’.

Lastly, developers have ‘provided insufficient information regarding flooding and drainage’ meaning that the proposal cannot be guaranteed to comply with flood risk and water management policies in the Craven Local Plan.

The planning officer’s report into the development states that the benefits of approving the scheme are ‘significantly and demonstrably outweighed by the detrimental impacts of the scheme’.

Proposed was two one bedroom homes, 10 two bed; 18 three bed and six four bed, including 11 affordable properties.

Gargrave Parish Council objected to the scheme on grounds of highways safety and sewer capacity. Parish councillors feared that the developer would add more homes to the scheme and also called for a new footbridge over the River Aire to allow pedestrians to reach the village and school without having to use the road bridge.

North Yorkshire highways raised no objection and the education authority said a contribution to education facilities in the village was not necessary at this time, but could change if the number of proposed houses on the site increased.

Of the around 400 letters received by the council’s planning department, people raised concerns of overdevelopment, a lack of need, and the wrong housing mix. Objectors also commented that the site should never have been earmarked for housing and that a brownfield site should be used instead.

There were also concerns that the design of the properties was not in keeping, that it would impact on the nearby conservation area and that the greenfield site should stay, to maintain the character of the village.

On issues of highways, objectors pointed to a lack of pavements for pedestrians, an increase in traffic and ‘high numbers’ of farm traffic on Marton Road; while there were also concerns over the impact on local services, impact on people walking the Pennine Way and those using the national cycling route.

RN Wooler has six months to appeal the decision with the Planning Inspectorate.