PLANNERS in some of the most beautiful parts of Cleveland have admitted they are falling foul of Government targets on protecting rural areas from builders.

A total of just 39 per cent of all homes in the area covered by Redcar and Cleveland Council were built on brownfield sites last year, against a Government target of 60 per cent, a report by the authority reveals.

However, councillors have hit back at criticism from the Green Party and local campaigners, arguing that they are turning the situation round.

Protests against house building on greenfield sites has centred on picturesque areas like Guisborough, Marske, New Marske and Saltburn during the past year.

Mike Heagney, member of Guisborough Against More Building on Open Land, said the historic character of towns like Guisborough were being threatened.

He said: "The council should recognise that large open spaces and the character of places such as Guisborough are among the strongest assets of the area."

Peter Goodwin, from Marske, the spokesman for the Teesside Green Party, said: "There were mistakes in the past and the council is paying for them now and will continue to do so.

"For example, permission has been granted to build on land in the Skelton area which has survived so far, but could be destroyed later. The council's got to be extra-rigorous from now on to preserve what we have."

Helen McLuckie, chairman of the council's planning and development committee, said permission for much of the house-building last year was granted seven or eight years ago.

She said: "It was much more acceptable to allow greenfield site development then than now, but we are addressing the problem. In fact, we are currently undertaking an urban capacity study to examine this very issue.

"One of the problems we have is a lot of our brownfield sites are right next to former ICI plants. No one would want to live there and we have to think about having suitable sites for industry to come here.

"We have to think about attracting new industry. It's all about striking the right balance."