PLANNING bosses will today be advised to overrule objections to a proposal to demolish a house in Ilkley and build seven others on the site.

The one acre plot of land at Whinfield, Hebers Ghyll Drive, off Grove Road, has been turned into a battle ground for objectors who want to preserve what they see as the character of the area.

Ilkley Parish Council, Ilkley Civic Society, district councillors and local residents all strongly object to the development.

But the objections cut little ice with planning officials who state in a report to the Keighley area planning panel that planning authorities should encourage housing

development which makes more efficient use of land.

Also in the report, planning officer Colin Waggett states: "The existing house is not listed or in a Conservation Area, nor does in possess any special architectural interest."

But District Councillor Martin Smith (Con) said: "It is the loss of old houses which must be resisted or the style of the area will totally change. We cannot lose these properties or the beauty of the place will be destroyed."

But in his report to the planning panel Mr Waggett says that calls for lower density

housing are unrealistic in the context of new planning policy guidance.

"But it is considered that the submitted scheme is designed to achieve the Government's objectives of making more efficient use of land without compromising the quality or character of the surrounding suburb," says Mr Waggett.

But David Cartwright, of Ghyll Wood, which lies behind the site, told the Gazette that the proposals would be overdevelopment and out of character with the area.

He also considers that if the one detached house and six semi-detached houses were

built and occupied neighbours would lose their privacy and traffic in the area would increase.

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