CAMPAIGNERS have claimed that major plans given the go-ahead to transform land at Durham Tees Valley Airport will be “the final nail in the coffin” for the facility.

A major development to build 350 houses on the northern border of the airport was last night approved by Darlington Borough Council planning applications committee members, despite more than 400 formal objections to the plans.

The site at Middleton St George, near Darlington, incorporates residential development and a community services centre to include retail and office space, a cafe, restaurant, pub, gym, car showroom, parking and community facilities.

Planning permission was granted for the 61 acre plot that includes the airport’s existing car park, the St George Hotel complex, a temporary caravan storage park, and playing fields to the south of the existing housing at Oak Tree in Middleton St George.

Committee members were told by airport owners, Peel Airports, that all profits from the development would be invested back into the airport that is currently generating losses of £200,000 per month.

Peel representatives added that the company has entered a legal agreement to keep the facility open until 2021 when its financial viability will be reassessed.

However, Middleton St George ward councillor Doris Jones, represented dozens of residents who attended the Town Hall meeting yesterday and said she was, “disappointed, disgusted, but not surprised” at the decision.

She added: “What’s concerning me is that, what’s not being picked up, is they’re only guaranteeing that the airport will be viable for the next five years.

“Yet I was told by a director from the airport that it’s going to take five years to build the housing.

“So yes, okay, they’ll stay there as long as the housing is being built but then what.

“It’s definitely – I think – the final nail in the coffin of the airport round here, I really do believe that.”

The 61 acre plot that includes the airport’s existing car park, the St George Hotel complex, a temporary caravan storage park, and playing fields to the south of the existing housing at Oak Tree in Middleton St George.

A spokesman for Durham Tees Valley Airport said: “The airport welcomed the recognition of the importance of the developments in securing the investment needed to deliver the master plan aimed at putting the business on a more secure footing — and the wider benefits for the area.”