PLANS to turn shipping containers into a number of small businesses to create a new leisure development on the banks of a town's river have been approved by the narrowest of margins.

Darlington Borough Council's planning committee was split down the middle when one member was stopped from voting after objecting to the scheme before the meeting even started.

Councillor Charles Johnson, the conservative ward member for Hummersknott, was heard to say he would support the application for the scheme alongside the River Skerne, at the rear of the former TK Maxx store, "over my dead body".

The application to install up to 12 shipping containers was described as "ugliest" plan ever to be put before committee members by Cllr Ian Galletley.

The Conservative member for the College ward was appalled by the scheme.

He said: "I don't know whether to laugh or cry. For the first time in my extended life I don't know what to say – it is the ugliest thing that I have ever seen proposed for Darlington."

However, Cllr Jan Taylor was all for giving the scheme a chance to succeed and bring the riverside area to life as similar sites around the country had proved very popular.

"It's just about offering something different," she said. "We have to remember we are here to represent everybody in Darlington – young and old. We should look at this as an opportunity and we should applaud some creativity in the town."

Objections had been lodged by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), which says the containers – which would be in full view from Darlington’s ring road – would give a poor first impression to visitors and that the development would be "visually intrusive".

However, Cllr Eleanor Lister believed that the plan, which could include eateries and other businesses, will add to the area, especially if the council can secure access from the Stone Bridge side of the site.

She said: "It would be nice to get that entry through from the linear park as it will join everything together. If this is the sort of thing that can do it, I'm all for it."

With Cllr Johnson unable to vote, members were split five votes for and five votes against the plan but the committee chairman Cllr Paul Baldwin used his casting vote to approve the scheme for a temporary period of three years.