North East employer Banks Property has submitted an appeal against Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council’s decision to reject its planning application for a proposed new residential development in a Tees Valley village.
Banks Property put forward proposals in 2016 for a new housing scheme on a 5.6 hectare site to the south west of Kirklevington, which was to include around 90 homes as well as areas of informal green space.
In August last year, despite having had a recommendation for approval from the Council’s planning officers, its planning committee voted to reject the proposals.
Since then, Banks Property’s Kirklevington project team has been examining the reason behind this decision, and working on providing further information that it believes will address it.
An appeal has now been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate, which Banks Property hopes will lead to a decision being made on the Kirklevington scheme this year.
Banks Property carried out a range of consultation work about the project across the community as part of the preparation of its plans, with comments provided by local people, groups and businesses being used in its development, including on how it could be a catalyst towards addressing local priorities for community improvements.
The scheme has been designed to bring a range of economic, employment, environmental, supply chain and social benefits to the area, as well as contribute towards meeting its affordable housing needs.
Chris Kelsey, communications manager at The Banks Group, says: “Having had a recommendation for approval from Stockton Borough Council’s planning officers, we were naturally disappointed that the Council’s planning committee chose to go against it, especially as many of the concerns raised by its members had already been rigorously examined by their officers and other consultants and found to be acceptable.
“We have been working on providing further information to address the area highlighted by the council in its refusal reason, and are confident that the information we have produced will make this scheme acceptable to the Planning Inspectorate.
“Our planning application is a carefully thought-out plan which is very much in keeping with the local surroundings, and is located in an area that is wholly suitable for this sort of development we put forward.
“There is a clear and increasingly pressing need right across North East England to increase the available supply of quality homes, a need which our Kirklevington scheme would help to address, and we hope this appeal will enable us to move this development forward.”
For further information on the Kirklevington development, and to sign up in support of it, please visit www.banksgroup.co.uk/