A GOLF club has been given a right of way which it plans to use for a new access road.

Darlington Borough Council's cabinet group decided to allow Darlington Golf Club to use authority-owned land for a new driveway.

The club presently uses Green Lane for access but it says that it is too narrow and in poor condition.

As a result, the club wants to build an access from Sparrow Hall Drive, in Darlington, that would also serve Elm Tree House farm.

Outline planning permission was granted for the scheme to close off Green Lane and use the new access earlier this year, despite opposition from residents.

At a meeting this week one resident suggested the decision should be referred back to the planning committee as he said that permission was granted illegally due to covenants on the land.

He claimed that a search of the land registry revealed that Darlington Borough Council had sold the land to developer Yuill Homes.

The developer had in turn sold it to Northumbrian Land Ownership, which placed restrictive covenants meaning the land cannot be used for non-residential purposes.

But Richard Alty, of Darlington Borough Council, said that establishing ownership of the land is not the job of the planning committee or cabinet.

Councillor Bill Dixon, the leader of the council, said that he would not refer the decision back to the planning committee.

"We need to make a decision as to whether or not we are going to grant this easement, " he said.

"We cannot defer this again and we cannot refer anything back to planning. It is a quasijudicial organisation and long may it remain so."

Supporting the decision, NickWallis, the cabinetmember for leisure and tourism and ward councillor for Haughton West said: "This was a fraught issue within the local community.

"I am a ward member but I have to sit here as a cabinet member and, for that reason, I will be going along with the advice of the officers and supporting the recommendations that we grant this easement.

"There have been problems with the planning process and I will support the residents with any concerns they may have, but it is not up to this cabinet to decide on planning matters."

The decision to grant access was passed by the cabinet.

Detailed planning permission to build the road was requested by the golf club on October 21. A decision is expected to bemade by the planning committee before December 12.