Sutton residents were shocked this week to discover there was nothing they could do to stop a housing development from being built.

Villagers turned out in force for a public meeting organised by the parish council to discuss the building of 67 homes on the former Silentnight mill site off Bridge Road.

But they were astounded to find out that the principal of building houses on the site had already been established and the latest plan by developers Barratt was simply to look at the design and layout.

Representatives from Barratt, plus Sutton Parish and Craven District Councils were quizzed by villagers concerned about how the roads and schools were going to cope with the influx of new families.

But many residents left the meeting angry and feeling they had achieved nothing.

Craven's planning and development manager Sian Watson said the site had been earmarked for housing and light industry in Craven's planning blueprint back in 1995.

Planning permission to build homes was granted by a Government inspector in 1998 after Silentnight took the matter to a public inquiry.

At Monday's public meeting it was revealed that Barratt wanted to develop the housing part of the site, leaving a large area left for industrial use.

South Craven planning officer Richard Preston said if it could be proved there were no takers for the industrial part of the site, then that may also be developed for homes.

But villagers claimed Sutton would simply not be able to cope with more people and traffic. They were also concerned over the state of the South Craven trunk sewer and its ability to handle extra waste.

Mr Preston said consultations with Yorkshire Water and North Yorkshire County Council had not revealed any problems with sewerage or roads. "If Yorkshire Water are not telling us that they want us to refuse this plan then we must assume that they have no objections," he said.

"The time for strategic argument has really gone. If the highways authority felt that that the roads hadn't sufficient capacity to take the traffic then they would have said so."

But residents were unhappy that their hands seemed to be tied. "If we are to have the traffic from these extra houses where's it all going to go, because Main Street can't cope at the moment?" asked one householder.

And another asked: "Do Barratts really believe that this village can take another 300 people? It's simply not on, I think it's scandalous."

There were also concerns about the look of the houses, and some villagers called for more bungalows for the elderly.

Parish council chairman Steve Morrell said the meeting was held to gauge people's opinion on the plan before councillors met on November 1 to prepare their comments to be passed onto planning officers. Craven District Council's planning committee could debate the Barratt plan at its November 8 meeting.

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