A decision is due this week on a plan for a house behind a pub in a conservation area.

Rigby Property submitted a proposal for the land next to Scholars Rise, behind the Spread Eagle in Bromley Cross, this year.

Previously, it submitted a proposal for four houses four years ago then a proposal for two houses two years ago, both of which were withdrawn. The applications drew a lot of opposition from residents.

It is the same this time around, as there is opposition from more than a dozen residents, and a decision is due this week on the plan for a house at a meeting of the planning committee on September 14.

Although the land is in a conservation area and in proximity to four Grade-II listed buildings in the form of the old Eagley Bridge School House, Bridge Mill, Brook Mill and Valley Mill, the development is seen as acceptable as it involves the clearance of an area described as "overgrown". Rigby Property said it is used illegally as an extension to gardens in the area and for flytipping.

The land is on the green belt but the development is seen as acceptable as it involves "no harm to openness".

A report reads: "The proposal is infill within a village and so it meets one of the exceptions set out in the National Planning Policy Framework as development that is acceptable in the Green Belt. The design is sympathetic to the appearance and character of the locality.

"There will be no harm to openness due to the existence of other, more prominent buildings surrounding the site.

"The development will provide a small contribution to the borough's housing supply which carries substantial weight. Other substantial weight arises from the slight enhancement to the Conservation Area and setting of nearby listed buildings.

"For the purposes of considering the principle of developing this Green Belt site the above are considered to represent special circumstances which would outweigh any perceived harm to the Green Belt and justify approving the development."

The planning committee is recommended to approve the application on September 14.

This article was written by Jack Tooth. To contact him, email jack.tooth@newsquest.co.uk or follow @JTRTooth on Twitter.