ANGRY villagers have made their feelings known to developers planning to build 83 houses on the outskirts of their village.

Almost 70 residents of Merrybent, near Darlington, attended a public meeting this week to discuss the proposals for the George Wimpey North East development at Merrybent Drive.

Representatives from Wimpey and Darlington Borough Council also attended the meeting, organised by Low Coniscliffe and Merrybent Parish Council.

Councillor Colin Douglas, chairman of the parish council, said he felt the meeting had been a big success.

He said: "One of the things that had concerned us is, we felt we were being left completely in the dark about this and we were being asked to give our comments and nobody had spoken to us about the scheme.

"Obviously the feeling in the village and the parish council is that people are quite strongly against this.

"I think the people from the planning department and from Wimpey were left in no doubt as to the feelings of the whole community."

Coun Douglas said the council planned to object to the scheme on the grounds that it was too big for the village, and there were not enough facilities in the village to support a development on such a scale.

He said: "The development itself is an urban development, and it was pointed out to the gentleman from Wimpey that this is a rural community.

"The houses are three storeys high and 16 feet wide. That's a townhouse, it's just not sensitive to the surroundings.

"There have been no proposals to improve things like sewerage disposal which is quite a problem in the area, and this is something I think Wimpey weren't aware of."

Nobody from Wimpey was available for comment yesterday.

The company has said the development will be built in a village style incorporating traditional village features.

It has also said the development conforms to Government guidelines regarding the use of brownfield sites. It would incorporate a village green, open space and a pond.

A spokeswoman for the Borough Council said the authority was unable to comment on ongoing applications.

The council is expected to discuss the application on November 16 or December 14.