THE Government has overturned a council's decision to block the building of 48 retirement apartments.

A Government planning inspector dismissed Stockton Borough Council's decision against the development, allowing Chris Morgan to push forward with his plans for the 1.9 hectare site in Ingleby Barwick.

Mr Morgan, who owns the land in Blair Avenue, has committed to contributing more than £190,000 towards affordable housing elsewhere in the borough.

He has also offered to hand over nearly half the 1.9hectare site, including a large group of protected trees, to the council for public open space.

The authority received 30 objections to the original plan, arguing there was no need for an over-55s retirement block and that a successful applicant would apply to change the scheme to regular housing. Planning officers at the council pointed out that the apartment block did not fit in with Ingleby Barwick's master plan, which aims to maintain separation between the different village settlements of Ingleby Barwick.

However, the Government inspector dismissed those concerns saying the master plan document had no status and carried only limited weight in policy terms.

She noted that the council had not allocated the land for any specific purpose and that there was no right of access across it for the public.

The inspector's comments come at a time when the Government is trying to ease planning regulations in order to stimulate the construction industry.

Planning consultant Steve Barker, of Darlington-based Prism Planning, who represented Mr Morgan, said: "The inspector agreed that the site is now only a relatively short stretch of undeveloped, private land."

Earlier this year, Mr Morgan offered to build a youth centre on the site as part of the project, but the council said it could not afford to run it.

Mr Morgan said: "We are very pleased to have won the appeal, although in planning terms it isn't anything less that we anticipated. I am disappointed that the process has cost the public money."

Mr Morgan was one of the original developers of Ingleby Barwick in the early Eighties and established Ingleby Barwick Golf Academy in 2005.