Plans for forty-two homes on the derelict creamery site off Foundry Lane were refused at Tuesday’s planning meeting, after more than an hour of debate and a packed public gallery.
The committee voted to reject the application on two main grounds: the low-lying part of the site sits inside the Weldale flood zone, and members were not satisfied that local infrastructure could absorb the extra families.
The sticking points
Residents from Foundry Lane and the surrounding terraces had objected in numbers. The recurring worries raised in the chamber were familiar ones.
- Surface water flooding after heavy rain on the creamery ground
- No spare places at Thornley Primary, already running at capacity
- A single access road onto an already busy junction
- Loss of the last open frontage along the river walk
The applicant may appeal or return with a smaller scheme. For now the creamery, empty since the dairy pulled out years ago, stays boarded up. Several councillors said they would welcome a revised proposal that built on the higher ground only.
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Further reading: How planning permission works
