Work has started at the Skerningham development outside Darlington, clearing some of its countryside. Campaigners fighting the project are concerned that the clearance is to make way for a haul road through the south east corner of the future “garden village”. The project will ultimately provide 4,500 homes with associated infrastructure.
Environmental concerns
Trees have already been felled in the last few days amid fears for protected birds and animals on the site.
The slice of green land to disappear under tarmac is home to barn owls, foxes and a host of other creatures. The Ecology Report in the main planning application (24/00772/FULE) mentioned that bats were detected in that area.
The Skerningham development has already come under fire for its plan for a road to cut through protected trees on its northern edge.
That road will go through Skunny Woods, a Priority Habitat Deciduous Woodland as shown on Defra Magic Maps. The entire wood is called a nature reserve on the council website.
Local campaigners are concerned that part of the haul road route is not covered by the overall planning application (ref. 24/00772/FULE.)
The haul road plan was only announced at a meeting of Darlington Council’s Cabinet in December last year.
Ownership and clearance
The owners listed with the Land Registry are still Kenneth and Lynne Lazenby, but the developers driving the scheme have informed the council that they have purchased the land.
The figures behind the developers’ Theakstons brand are Martin Corney, his stepfather Ian Waller and planner Chris Harrison. They are better known as three of the four private shareholders that together own 90% of Teesworks Ltd, a joint venture with Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen’s South Tees Development Corporation.
Teesworks is tasked with regenerating the vast former steelworks site at the mouth of the River Tees.
While they have invested none of their own money, the businessmen have benefitted from Teesworks’ earnings from scrap sales and land deals. A recent accounts filing at Companies House shows that Teesworks paid out over £20mn in dividends to its shareholders in the year to the end of March 2024.
At the haul road site the clearance is being carried out using machinery from TCC Plant Ltd. This plant hire firm is co-owned by Corney’s son and son-in-law.
The developers are no strangers to controversy over the negative environmental impact of their schemes. One such project was the 400 homes built next to Flatts Lane Country Park
The Teesworks park and ride scheme will encroach on the nearby Coatham Marsh Nature Reserve, removing 5% of a ‘green wedge’ – a buffer zone between developments to provide space for recreation and wildlife.
In the uproar over the widespread die-off of marine creatures in recent years, many blamed pollution from the Teesworks remediation project, although proof is lacking and the company has not been charged with any offence.
