A PLANNING dispute that has lasted more than 20 years has finally been resolved.

The dispute over plans to build a bungalow on a Darlington estate has left the applicant facing £10,000-worth of legal bills after the Court of Appeal rejected his case.

John Dobbin obtained planning permission to build the bungalow in Briar Close, overlooking the Blackwell Grange golf course, in August 1987.

However, his plan faced fierce objections from residents John Morse and Lilian Redpath.

They said it would damage the small Sixties cul-de-sac's "quiet, uncrowded and exclusive" ambience.

Before Mr Dobbin could start work on the bungalow, he had to overcome a legal covenant dating back to 1960, which restricted development in the close so only one house could be built on its five plots.

Mr Dobbin, who lived at 1 Briar Close until 1993, had hoped to develop a plot close to the golf course's 18th hole.

He said the covenant was out-dated and of no practical benefit to the residents.

Mrs Redpath objected and said the bungalow would damage the "sense of opennesss and space" in the close, which has unimpeded views of the golf course which, she said, "made it feel as though one were in the countryside".

In June last year, the Land's Tribunal said the bungalow was in accordance with local planning policy and would have no effect on the objectors' homes in terms of view, overlooking or the amount of traffic it would generate.

However, the tribunal upheld the covenant by ruling that the bungalow would impinge on the "low density" of the close and its "pleasant and peaceful ambience".

Mr Dobbin took his case to London's Appeal Court, with his barrister, Philip Coppel, arguing that the tribunal had imposed too stringent a legal test on the would-be developer in his quest to overcome the covenant.

However, Lord Justice Lawrence Collins, sitting with Lord Justice Carnwath and Lady Justice Hallett, dismissed his argument and said the covenant was like a "local law" designed to protect the peace and uncrowded character of the close.

"I do not consider that there are grounds for interfering with the (tribunal's) decision", said the judge, dismissing Mr Dobbin's appeal and ordering him to pay almost £10,000 in legal costs.

Mrs Redpath declined to comment on the matter. Mr Dobbin was unavailable for comment.