OBJECTORS are preparing to protest about plans to turn a former royal home into a residential school for youngsters with learning difficulties.

Residents living in the Goldsborough area near Knaresborough had been expecting to state their case against the development at Goldsborough Hall during a Harrogate Borough Council planning committee meeting tomorrow.

But the hearing has now been delayed because planners say they are awaiting additional information from the applicants.

In the 1920s, the Grade Two star-listed hall assumed royal status when Princess Mary, only daughter of King George V and Queen Mary, married Viscount Henry Lascelles, heir to the 5th Earl of Harewood, and they made the hall their home.

Their son, George, present Earl of Harewood, who lives at Harewood House, between Leeds and Harrogate, was born at Goldsborough and christened in the local parish church with the King and Queen among the guests.

Until recently, the hall had been run as a Bupa care home with restrictions on its future use.

The fight to prevent alterations to the hall has been led by the joint Goldsborough and Flaxby Parish Council.

Its chairman, Councillor Jamie Search, said despite the delay, objectors were still focused on the issue and ready to state their case.

Objections were sparked after residents heard that a large boundary fence, new entrance gates, children's play areas, play equipment and an extended car park would be part of the plans.

The development plan has been tabled by the Senad Group Ltd, which was formed in 2002 to create schools for young people with a range of special educational needs into adulthood.

Terry Lee, chief executive of Senad, said it had not yet decided whether to buy Goldsborough Hall and that a planning application, which includes mesh fencing, was about keeping pupils safe rather than keeping the community safe