LEYBURN is to get a new medical centre after independent consultants confirmed the chosen site was the best in the town.

Residents in the Brentwood area had objected to the proposals for the two-storey surgery on the former tennis club near their homes.

They feared traffic congestion and noise and that their properties would be overlooked by the Trinity Medical Properties development.

Richmondshire District Council agreed in December to defer a decision on the planning application to allow further research into other possible sites in the town.

The environment committee heard last Tuesday that consultant Entec UK had been commissioned to analyse the matter independently and had concluded that no more suitable site than Brentwood was available.

The committee was also satisfied that tennis provision offered at the Wensleydale School would compensate adequately for the loss of the tennis courts on the site.

Peter Featherstone, the council's development control team leader, said the highways department had recommended conditional approval of the surgery scheme.

A strong need for a new medical centre at Leyburn had been demonstrated and this outweighed the fact that the development would be larger than might normally be considered for the site.

"The scheme has benefits and impacts and these must be weighed in the balance," said Mr Featherstone. "The local impact is outweighed by the broader, wider need for the development and, in the absence of any preferable site, this should go ahead."

Ward member Coun Terry Jones said the matter should be deferred to allow further investigation of a site on the business park, but his proposal was defeated.

The pavilion-style medical centre will have consulting and treatment rooms, space for district nurses, health visitors, midwives and mental health services and a 25-space car park. It is likely to create ten jobs on top of existing staffing levels.