Kirklevington residential development will go ahead through new Banks Property approval

A proposed new residential development in a Tees Valley village is set to move forward after the developer behind the project won an appeal against its rejection by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council.

Banks Property put forward proposals in 2016 for a new housing scheme on a 5.6 hectare site to the south west of Kirklevington, which included around 90 homes as well as areas of informal green space.

In August 2017, despite having had a recommendation for approval from the council’s planning officers, the members of its planning committee voted to reject the proposals.

Chris Kelsey, communications manager at The Banks Group, said: “This is a thought-out scheme in keeping with the local surroundings and located in an area that is wholly suitable for this sort of development we put forward, and we are very pleased that the planning inspector has supported the case we put forward in our appeal.

“There is a clear pressing need right across [the region] to increase the available supply of quality homes, a need which our Kirklevington scheme will help to address, and we will now look to move this development forward as soon as we can.”

Banks Property submitted an appeal against to the Planning Inspectorate at the start of 2018 after examining the reason behind the council’s decision and providing further related information to address it.

The family-owned firm has now won the planning inspector’s support for its appeal and plans to start work on developing the site as soon as possible.

The Kirklevington development will provide a range of quality family homes while delivering a range of economic, employment and supply chain benefits to the area, as well as contributing towards meeting local affordable housing needs.

Banks Property carried out a range of consultation work about the project across the community as part of the preparation of its plans, with comments provided by local people, groups and businesses being used in its development.