RESIDENTS of a village have banded together in a mission to save a ‘secret woodland’ from being turned into retirement flats.

Locals in Norton Village, Stockton, are campaigning against a planning application, submitted by developer McCarthy and Stone, to build on land east of Millbeck High Street.

The area is currently a woodland space with a public footpath and three access points.

So far, the application has 72 objections with villagers expressing concerns about the woodland.

Linda Ward is one of the residents objecting to the application.

She said: “It’s a little but beautiful public footpath and its full of the most incredible trees. The bird song is fantastic.

“It’s like a little secret garden in Norton.

“Not everybody knew about it before we started raising awareness but, since we have, people have been going down to have a look and we have had a really good response. People really enjoy that space.”

McCarthy and Stone’s application, if approved, will see the land being developed into a block of 47 retirement apartments with associated access, landscaping and car parking.

Ms Ward said: “It would mean the destruction of the woods. I have surprised myself with just how saddened I feel about it.

“There’s so much wildlife in that area that would lose their habitat for the sake of development. And we would lose a wonderful little green space. I really don’t want this to happen.”

Residents of Norton are currently raising funds to instruct a solicitor to investigate the selling of the land in the application.

As well as losing the green space, locals are worried about increased traffic in the centre of the village because of the development, and the visual impact of the building.

One resident said: “So far 247 species of animal, insect plant and trees have been identified and there are over 630 trees of varying age growing on the land.

“We are currently living in a climate emergency where it is imperative that we pay attention to the state of our natural world and fight to protect against things that will harm it.

“Apart from the destruction of this ecosystem, there is also the matter of the extra traffic, parking, noise pollution, loss of privacy and littering that the building will cause.”

A McCarthy and Stone spokesman said: “The site in Norton is ideally located in the heart of the village close to local amenities and on a vacant plot of land.

“However, we recognise the concerns some residents have about the plans.

“In addition to holding a public exhibition, we have already held a separate meeting with immediate residents.

“As a result of that meeting we have been revising the scheme to take account of their concerns.

“We hope to meet residents again in the next few weeks to discuss our planning application.”

  • The residents' fundraising page can be found at gofundme.com