Plans to build a luxury village on the old Middleton Hospital site have been comprehensively rejected by Harrogate Council - but campaigners are keeping their champagne on ice.

The authority's Development Control Committee listed ten separate reasons for rejecting proposals to create a seven-building, 34-home settlement on the green belt land off Carter's Lane.

Councillors concluded unanimously that the scheme would harm the green belt and wider views of Middleton, seriously affect the ecology of Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), and lead to dangerous road access problems.

They were also unconvinced by developer Hearthstead Homes' proposed clean-up measures for the contaminated land which still lies within the former isolation hospital site.

Ilkley Civic Society member and also Bradford representative of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), Jim Burton, addressed the meeting on behalf of opponents of the scheme.

He said: "This whole site is within the Nidderdale AONB and within the green belt and the view from the Cow and Calf rocks, which looks out on to it, is the first look many people have of the Yorkshire Dales.

"That view is an aesthetic gem, a significant part of our heritage and it's our duty to protect it for future generations."

Dr Burton said the effect on surrounding roads, especially Denton Bridge, of the extra traffic generated by such a development was also a major concern.

"Anybody who uses the bridge, which is narrow, single lane, and leads to the busy A65, knows it is a pretty hazardous operation," he said.

"The road frequently carries very heavy volumes of traffic and the school which was built there in recent years has increased that. I think each of those reasons, traffic and landscape, is significant enough to have this application turned down - and I have just picked those two reasons from many."

Dr Burton concluded by saying he believed Wharfedale was a 'critical' environmental barrier, and that he believed any building on the site would be 'disastrous'.

Planning officer Neville Watson told the meeting he had rarely found ten reasons to refuse a plan before - and said each one of them would have been enough in itself for him to recommend refusal.

He said: "Within the context of the current planning policy, which is applicable now, this is a non-starter."

That view was echoed by Coun Mike Bury, who said: "I can't remember seeing as many breaches of policy as this in a plan."

Coun Fred Willis stressed the strategic importance of the plot. He said: "This site is on the very fringe of our area but that doesn't mean we should let our guard down, it is important to the whole of Yorkshire and beyond.

"Anyone who has climbed Ilkley Moor has taken in this wonderful view, and if this site was developed it would totally ruin the view from the Cow and Calf Rocks."

But the scheme, strongly opposed by Ilkley Parish Council, could yet be approved by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), to which the developers have appealed over Harrogate's failure to process the application within the necessary 16 weeks.

The chairman of Ilkley Plans Committee, Coun Audrey Brand, however, thinks that is unlikely. She said: "This has been a long battle but our recommendations for refusal have always been the same and Harrogate has listed the same things.

"We are pleased that they have recommended it for refusal and I think there are sufficient reasons for DEFRA to do likewise - the developers do need to have affordability built into the housing and to sort out the highways problems, especially with Westville House School already up there.

"We're not against any development but it has to be in character with the area and everything that has come forward up to now for this site has certainly been out of character and overbuilt.

"A lot of things have to be thought about before a plan would be acceptable - this a sensitive site, which is a habitat for badgers and other wildlife, and it's a site which from the other side of the valley is very visible."

A spokesman for Hearthstead Homes said they were not surprised or concerned by the outcome, as they had lodged their appeal with DEFRA, which would have the final say, two months ago.