Local councillors at the site with Lib Dem Parliamentary candidate Josh Mason

The Council’s Regulatory Committee by 6 votes to five has refused planning permission for 320 houses to be built on the Longbank Farm site in Ormesby.

Only Labour Councillors supported the application.

It’s a victory for the campaign by local residents and Lib Dem Councillors to protect green areas.

The Committee only gave three local residents and three councillors three minutes each to support refusal while the case in favour took 45 minutes.

Ormesby Councillor and Lib Dem Group Leader Glyn Nightingale said:

“It’s great that our efforts working with local residents have kept our area’s open spaces free from inappropriate development. The impact on traffic, local schools and local amenities would have been devastating.”

Prospective Lib Dem MP for the Redcar Constituency Josh Mason commented:

“The Longbank Farm site is just one of the Labour Council’s favoured areas for house building on local green field sites. Residents don’t want this. The Liberal Democrats don’t want this. And I shall work with local residents to make sure this doesn’t happen. The Council should be protecting green field sites not ruining them.”