THE disillusionment in the planning process said to be felt by people living in Lymm and Oughtrington may have been calmed by a decision made last week.

Five planning applications for Lymm were debated by members of Warrington Borough Council's development control committee last Wednesday night.

Of those, a major application for 64 houses on land off Millers Lane and Rushgreen Road was refused planning permission for being 'out of character'.

The decision followed submissions from residents, borough councillors and members of Lymm's village design group (VDG), all of which thoroughly opposed the scheme.

They objected that the three-storey properties would be out of character with the area and would be overbearing.

A spokesman for the VDG said: "The decision is critical. If this scheme is approved it would open the floodgates for development in Oughtrington. Do we really want a repeat of the three-storey dwellings in Cherry Lane?"

Another speaker at the meeting told of a "genuine disillusionment" about the planning process among villagers and claimed that the designs were "just plain ugly".

Clr Sheila Woodyatt, Mayor of Warrington, said: "If these are in character then I am the Queen of Sheba. In the last 12 months, in excess of 400 houses have been developed in the village we can take no more."

Planning officer John Earle denied that planners had "rolled over and had our tummies tickled by developers" and argued that the scheme was innovative.

But committee members agreed that the scheme was out of character and voted seven to four to refuse planning permission.

Redrow has already appealed against the borough council for not determining a previous scheme within the statutory eight-week period and Wednesday night's decision means that the committee will be objecting to that original scheme.