COUNCILLORS settled a long-running planning debate yesterday by allowing a model aircraft club to use a field.

Shildon Model Flying Club has been granted temporary planning permission to use a seven-hectare stretch of farmland at Old Eldon, between Newton Aycliffe and Shildon, for its members to fly aircraft.

Sedgefield Borough Council's development control committee visited the site, next to Moor Lane, for a flying demonstration before making a decision yesterday.

They agreed to the application but placed restrictions on flying times. Residents feared the proposal would be a danger to traffic, ruin a quiet wildlife haven and disrupt the peace of a rural community.

The club, which has 26 senior members and three juniors, wanted to extend its use of the site from less than 28 days to all year.

The consent, which lasts for a year, allows club members to fly silent aircraft and gliders from Tuesdays to Sundays.

Internal combustion engine-powered models, which make noise, can only be flown on Wednesdays and alternate Saturdays or Sundays.

All flying will be stopped between June and October to allow a falconer, who has lived in Old Eldon for 26 years, to exercise his birds.

Members will also have to keep their craft away from an exclusion zone around houses, and a small take-off and landing area and vehicle access will also be created.

Before the site visit, planning officers met community and club representatives to try to reach a compromise that would help the club thrive without disturbing neighbours.

Two previous site visits had to be postponed because of weather conditions and members' commitments.

A spokesperson for the residents of Old Eldon said: "For two years we've experienced flying 28 days a year and had real concerns about the club being able to fly every day of the year, from 9am to 8pm. We are quite satisfied with the outcome as we feel it is a compromise."

No-one from the club was able to comment last night.