Housing proposal sparks anger

People in Ingleby Barwick are angry because Stockton Borough Council approved a planning application to build 60 houses on a green wedge site, near the River Tees.

The application has been passed to the Government Office for the North-East.

Yuill and Bellway homes have pledged to fund a 49-acre country park, if their application is approved.

Some residents, along with Ingleby Barwick Parish Council, have welcomed plans for the country park, saying there are no facilities for children on the massive estate.

But others say the council should fund the country park.

Kevin Webster, who lives near the proposed development, said: "The council is raking in the council tax as more and more people move to Ingleby Barwick.

"It is effectively a town, but the infrastructure is so bad people have to queue for half-an-hour every morning in their cars just to get out.

"There are no public facilities anywhere, and for years there has been no secondary school, although most of the people here are families with children.

"The council has managed it all very badly. They have approved the building of more and more homes, yet there are still no facilities.

"Why should residents have to agree to seeing yet more houses built, and yet more traffic jams, just because a developer has agreed to pay for a country park? The council should be paying for facilities for our children."

Mr Webster and other objectors are forming a campaign group and collecting signatures for a petition.

He has gathered a lot of support from residents, and from environmental groups which oppose the development of green wedge land.

Mr Webster said that the park would create traffic congestion and parking problems in the cul-de-sacs which were expected to provide access to it.

Stockton council said: "It would be inappropriate to comment until the application has been considered by the Government office for the North-East."