PLANS for an extension to a falconry centre at Great Broughton were approved by just one vote yesterday.

Hambleton planning committee agreed by seven votes to six to give retrospective conditional consent for the development by Dr Michael Robb at The Holme, despite objections from the parish council and ramblers and five letters of concern from villagers.

The new building will be used for falcon chambers by Dr Robb, who moved to Great Broughton two years ago. He received permission for an agricultural building for breeding birds of prey in 1999 and consent for a lean-to extension to that building, incorporating falcon chambers, a year ago.

When the planning committee considered Dr Robb's application for the latest building yesterday, it received a letter from him saying falcon chambers were vital to allow stock to return to the same level as before he moved to the site.

He needed the chambers to continue what he described as his hard and dedicated work into the captive breeding of rare and endangered falcon species.

The parish council, however, said this was the third time Dr Robb had put up a building before submitting a planning application and its position alongside a public footpath was unacceptable. It claimed Dr Robb resented anyone using the path yet he had erected the building where birds were most vulnerable to walkers and dogs.

The Ramblers' Association claimed the developments already approved for Dr Robb were a blot on the landscape.

Coun June Imeson told the committee: "With this particular applicant, enough is enough."

Planning officers said some of the comments by the parish council and ramblers were beyond the immediate remit of the department and concluded that the principle of further development on the site was acceptable. The building would be screened by a mature hedgerow.

Officers confirmed that comments questioning Dr Robb's compliance with planning conditions were being dealt with separately