A Great Bentley farmer has won an appeal to build 150 homes, plus business units, on the edge of the village.

Campaigners, including the Great Bentley Parish Council and Tendring District Council, opposed the plans from Anthony Irwin of St Marys Farm and Moonlight Hollow Ltd.

They feared the homes and business land on the 9.1ha Station Fields off Plough Lane would urbanise the village and change its character. Local schools, roads and health services would also not be able to cope with extra people.

However, the planning inspectorate has approved the scheme, but has imposed a “Grampian” condition limiting the development to 25 homes until either a pedestrian railway crossing between the homes and the village is closed or a new foot bridge is built.

Network Rail, the decision noted, is closing pedestrian level crossings to improve safety in a nationwide scheme, but the developer has agreed to fund a new footbridge.

The decision also noted concerns the scheme would generate too much traffic in the village but the inspector found from his site visit in August that any extra traffic from the development “would not result in severe harm to highway safety.”

The inspector also cited a lack of a Local Plan from Tendring Council and its inability to prove it had a five year housing supply.

The development “would result in moderate harm to the rural character and appearance of the area,” but “significant weight” had been given to the 150 homes, with 40 per cent of them affordable, boosting housing supply.

The 0.9ha of land for employment purposes also weighed in favour of the proposal.

Great Bentley Parish Council had opposed the proposal and Tendring Council received more than 50 objections and a petition against it.

Peter Harry of the Protect Great Bentley campaign group called the appeal decision “disappointing”, fearing the extra traffic the homes and industrial units would bring.

“We are now moving towards a small town,” he said.

Tendring councillor Lynda McWilliams, who represents Great Bentley, agreed.

“A lack of a Local Plan hasn’t helped in this case. We have to live with what we have got. We are working on it, trying to get it through as quickly as possible,” she said.