DECADES of uncertainty over the site of a reservoir which once held up to 12 million gallons of water to supply the Tees Valley has been ended as a plan to build homes there was approved.

Darlington Borough Council’s planning committee heard that the reservoir on the south-western edge of Sadberge was part of a broad social improvement impetus in Victorian Britain to provide clean drinking water and better sanitation to meet the needs of rapidly growing industrial towns. Members were told that by “recycling” the site, 21st Century Tees Valley residents would receive a range of benefits.

A spokeswoman for the reservoir’s owner, Northumbrian Water, said building a 46-home estate on the site would help to meet the borough’s housing needs and include 20 per cent affordable housing.

She added the development would end the antisocial behaviour which had “plagued the site for many years” since the reservoir was drained in 1985, as well as supporting services in the village.

However, the meeting heard the Campaign for Protection of Rural England had objected to the proposal, highlighting it was outside development limits, while others highlighted it was in a conservation area.

Despite this, members were told by officers to “give serious consideration” to the proposal as it represented a relatively rare opportunity to build a significant housing development on a brownfield site.

Officers emphasised the development “would make a vital contribution to housing supply” and the developers would provide funding for a village play area as well as to maintain a bus service.

Sadberge Parish Council had issued objections to the scheme, stating the community did not want a development of that scale and that it would result in “even more traffic passing through a village which is already experiencing problems due to traffic volumes”.

The committee’s chairman Councillor Doris Jones said the parish council had withdrawn its objections to the scheme at the last minute, mainly due to concerns over antisocial behaviour at the "out-of-sight reservoir". She said: “They do feel something has got to happen with it at some time. It cannot go on forever and a day as it is now.

“They’re not totally happy about it – they would rather a nice nature reserve was built, but if that’s not financially viable, they will take the best of what they can get at this time.”