RESIDENTS are celebrating after a developer's plans to bulldoze their quiet street were rejected by councillors.

Householders in Hornbeam Close, Clifton Moor, York, have won a year-long battle to stop an access road being built through their cul-de-sac.

City of York Council's east area planning sub-committee refused a planning application by developer Keyland Gregory to build 12 houses at neighbouring Centurion Park and put in the road.

Councillors unanimously threw out the plans - despite planning chiefs having recommended approval for the proposals.

Philip Keighley, the residents' campaign co-ordinator, said: "We are absolutely delighted. It is the best possible outcome we could have hoped for.

"Everybody that I have spoken to has been really pleased. We actually thought we were up against it with the council planning officer recommending that it should go ahead. We thought we were the underdogs."

Residents launched a campaign against the proposals when they were first suggested last year, arguing the access road would increase traffic, ruin their quiet cul-de-sac and endanger children living there.

Keyland Gregory withdrew three previous applications after officers recommended they be refused because the area was supposed to be designated for employment use.

Mr Keighley said residents were particularly pleased councillors took on board their fears over the proposed access road. He said: "It is possible that the developer could appeal or they could submit a new application.

"But the key thing for us was that one of the grounds for refusal was that the proposed access was considered unsuitable by the councillors.

"It will be really hard for the developer to put in another scheme with the same access."

At the planning meeting, Skelton, Rawcliffe and Clifton Without ward councillor Richard Moore, usually chair of the committee, stood aside to speak out against the proposals.

Coun Charles Hall, who chaired the meeting when Centurion Park was discussed, said: "It was rejected because we would have had to have changed the land allocation policy which we currently have, and that land would have to be used for housing.

"It is not the responsibility of that committee to do that."

He added: "The other ground was the fact that we were concerned about the narrowness and traffic on the access road.

"We thought it was beyond what is acceptable."

A spokeswoman for Keyland Gregory said no one from the firm wished to comment and it was considering its options.


Diary of a struggle

March 2006 - Keyland Gregory Ltd submits its first planning application to build 12 houses at Centurion Park. The proposal is later withdrawn.

March 2006 - Residents' suspicions are raised after a vacant property in the street is acquired by the developer.

August 2006 - The firm enters another application for the scheme, with an access road through Hornbeam Close.

September 5, 2006 - Residents launch a campaign against the plans, saying 96 per cent of people on the 75-property estate are against the scheme.

September 27, 2006 - Householders who had organised a protest to greet councillors on a site visit are told they've won after the application was withdrawn.

December, 2006 - Campaigners pledge to renew their fight after Keyland Gregory resubmitted its application.

April 4, 2007 - Residents say they will not give in even after planning chiefs recommended the scheme now be approved.

April 10, 2007 - As councillors arrive in the street on a site visit, residents are there to protest against the developer's plans.

April 11, 2007 - The scheme is unanimously thrown out by the council's east area planning sub-committee.