A FORMER industrial site in Ben Rhydding's Conservation Area can be turned into homes, planners have ruled.

Despite pleas from nearby residents and Ilkley Parish Council to limit the number of home to three, members of the Keighley Area Planning Panel voted to allow four homes to be built in the village.

The former mail order wool company building, Wheatley Works, situated on a 600 square metre site between Wheatley Lane and Wheatley Avenue, will be demolished to make way for the new development.

A decision over the plan had been postponed at a meeting at Keighley last month with members of the panel reconvening at Ilkley Town Hall. Following a site visit, they voted to grant planning permission.

Members of the Ilkley Parish Council planning committee had suggested that the development should be limited to three. Councillor Kate Brown, planning chairman, told the panel that a planning inspector ruled in 1997 that there should be no more than three dwellings on the site.

Nearby resident Josephine Wesley told the meeting: "The objectors agree with the proposal to change Wheatley Works to a residential development as the previous use had outgrown the site, but the current application is flawed.

"There could be an acceptable residential development on the site, but this would involve a redesign to address the entrance issue and reduce the number of dwellings to three, thereby improving access and resolving the overlooking problems."

Objectors had argued that the lane providing an entrance to the site was too narrow and had sharp bends making access difficult and blocking of existing garages more likely.

Until recently the building, which is finished in stone render and has a red tiled roof, was used as offices, storage and workshops for an import/export company which relocated to Silsden. Neighbours had complained during that time of noise and extra traffic generated by the commercial operation of the site.

A previous application to turn the building into apartments was refused 12 months ago and an application to build four houses on the site was dismissed after an appeal to the Department of the Environment in 1998.

But a report to the panel, which encouraged members to grant planning permission, says that recent Government planning guidelines, promoting in-fill development to preserve green belt areas, had constituted a change in circumstances.

Stephen Sadler, a planning consultant acting for the developer said that the development would enhance the appearance of the site and lead to less traffic than industrial use.

He said: "The buildings would be refurbished to a high standard and the unsightly garage would be demolished. The change of use of Wheatley Works from commercial to dwellings would reduce the activity on the site. The scheme will improve this part of the Conservation Area."

Members of the panel voted unanimously to grant planning permission but imposed conditions to make sure landscaping and drainage work was carried out, and that doors to three of the houses were situated on the same side of the building as the car park.

According to the planning officer's report: "On balance it is considered that the proposal for four dwellings is a preferable alternative to the continuance of the previous uses of the site and so approval is recommended. The proposal would not be detrimental to the character of the Conservation Area."