HAMBLETON councillors were recommended yesterday to grant conditional planning approval for 12 houses on the site of a garage which closed at Aiskew in May.

Original plans to redevelop the Aiskew Motor Company site with housing were withdrawn in February and a revised set went before Hambleton development control committee yesterday.

Planning officers said the scheme met the requirements of the interim housing policy because the new homes would have reasonably ready access to a wide range of local services. Redevelopment would also reduce the number of cars parked on surrounding streets, a problem raised by residents when the garage was operating.

But officers added that because of a change of levels on the site, planning approval should be subject to more details, demonstrating that the impact of one proposed house on neighbouring properties would be acceptably low.

The development company should also be asked to sign an agreement that four affordable houses would be incorporated and that a commuted sum of £35,975 should be paid for public open space off the site.

The committee received a letter from a resident in nearby Newsteads, who claimed that two new access points to the development would lead to more traffic congestion and that the two-storey houses would have an overbearing effect on bungalows occupied by elderly people.