A GREEN Party candidate is seeing red after his plans to build green homes in the green belt were shown the red card by councillors.

Jonathan Elmer, the Green Party candidate for Durham City, wants to build five three- to four-bedroom homes next to his family bungalow in the Durham City green belt on the outskirts of Langley Moor.

The homes would be the first in the county to achieve the super-green Passivhaus status.

But a Durham County Council planning committee has unanimously rejected the £1.5m project after hearing it could threaten a popular animal rescue centre nearby.

Anyone moving onto the eco-friendly estate at The Garth could complain about dogs barking at Deerness Kennels, putting its future at risk, it was claimed.

However, having worked on the plans for several years, Mr Elmer is refusing to admit defeat and is now considering his next move.

“I want to show that development can be restorative,” he said.

The one-and-a-half storey homes, worth £250,000 to £350,000, would be built in an L-shape on rough ground formerly used for greyhound training and part of Mr Elmer’s garden.

They would be warmed mechanically using a heat exchange technique, powered by automatically rotating solar panels on the roof and use rain water, which would be reused to flush the toilets and then cleaned naturally through a reed bed before being released into the nearby River Browney.

The roofs facing Langley Moor, a field away across the East Coast Main Line, would be planted as a meadow – as would the area sloping down to the Browney.

“I want to set an example in housebuilding,” Mr Elmer, a freelance ecologist, said.

“We’re used to not building because we think it destroys green space. But we can use development to improve the quality of the environment.”

On noise, Mr Elmer said the kennels’ concerns were nonsense.

The homes would be very well insulated with triple glazed windows making them “silent” inside, while outside sound would be blocked by the houses themselves and an earth ridge, reducing noise to acceptable levels, he said.

Mr Elmer said the scheme would improve the character and views of the area.

The project had the support of Brandon and Byshottles Parish Council, which said it would be a huge positive for Langley Moor, the County Durham Green Party and the Friends of Langley Moor.

However, council planning officer Alan Dobie said it was “simply not the correct location”.

Councillor David Freeman said the area had high landscape value, the site was outside the Langley Moor settlement boundary and the amenity of new residents could not but be affected by the kennels.

Mr Elmer may appeal the council decision and meanwhile is trying to have the site removed from the green belt.