A PROTEST has taken place against proposals for a controversial housing development in Hurworth.
Residents gathered outside Hurworth Village Hall, where a public exhibition of the plans was taking place, to express their anger.
The Banks Group, who are behind the development, plan to extend the boundary of the village by building about 90 houses on land off Roundhill Road.
Today’s (May 5) protest coincided with the elections for Hurworth Parish Council, where five members of the campaign group Hurworth Against Detrimental Development (HADD) were standing.
Residents protest in Hurworth tonight
Tonight, a protest march involving about 100 people took place from the village hall towards Hurworth School, where a polling station for the parish elections was located.
Posters were displayed in windows and in cars throughout the village, displaying messages including ‘no banks’, ‘no houses here’ and ‘vote village not town’.
The five HAAD members who stood for election were Carol Paylor, David Wood, Richard Lawley, Janine Forster and Simon Coultas.
Carol Paylor, HADD chairwoman, said the turnout at tonight's protest march "underlines the strength of the feeling in the village".
HADD chairwoman Carol Paylor with residents
She added: “You only need to look no further than Middleton St George and the amount of houses that are due to be built.
“We do not want that in our village. We want it to remain a village.
Children join the protests
“Banks say they are a developer with care and listen to the community. Eighty three percent are saying no to the proposals.”
A resident in the village, who asked not to be named, said: “There is already a major issue in the village with excessive traffic, trouble with flooding and school places.
“We need leadership from our parish council who can give our campaign a voice.”
A recent survey of residents in the village found there was overwhelming opposition to the development.
In response to the initial proposals, campaigners from HAAD contacted 220 villagers, and found that 129 were opposed to the plans, 54 were concerned, 26 had no view, and 11 were in favour of the potential development.
Lewis Stokes, community relations manager at Banks Group, said: “We want to engage with people who are for and against the scheme.
“The size (of the increase) is between five and six percent which is a sustainable increase in the number of family homes in the village.
“But the key thing for us is it is an outline application and we’ll agree the principle and the scale of any proposal.
“What is important is there is a lot of support for the scheme. We hope people will come to tell us what they want to see happen.”
A planning application for the development is expected to be submitted to Darlington Borough Council over the summer.
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