A FORMER Yorkshire and England cricketer has vowed to fight on against plans for a development opposite his home.

Developers Crosby Homes (Yorkshire) Limited withdrew an original planning application for five three-storey flats on Middleton Avenue when planning officers were due to recommend its refusal.

They have re-submitted a scaled-down plan which proposes the demolition of an existing detached house on the site and its replacement with four two-storey flats with garages.

But 76-year-old Bob Appleyard said the new application was still totally out of keeping with the area and would blight people's enjoyment of the recreational facilities nearby.

Mr Appleyard, of Middleton Avenue said the area was the main recreational site in Ilkley with rugby pitches, cricket pitches, the town's swimming pool, tennis courts, putting green, and bowling greens as well as a picnic area.

"This development would stick out there like a sore thumb," he said.

Mr Appleyard has worked on youth sporting development since his retirement. He said the development would form a backcloth to anyone enjoying the area.

"Anyone having a picnic or playing sport will be looking at this. It will totally destroy the openness of the area - it is a serious threat," he said.

Mr Appleyard is not alone his opposition to the plan. District and parish councillor Anne Hawkesworth has warned that Ilkley was in danger of being turned into 'Legoland' by developers.

Residents and councillors are afraid that profit-hungry developers were deliberately singling out large detached properties in the town with the aim of demolishing them and building multi-occupancy buildings in the extensive grounds.

The threat to the character of the town led to the formation of the Ilkley Design Statement Group to try to protect the town against planning blight.

A spokesman for Ilkley planning office said that the original application had been reduced from seven to four flats on the site.

He said that planners would now consider the new application to determine whether it fitted in with the character of Middleton.

But Mr Appleyard said that builders from outside the town were looking for profit and had no empathy for the area.

"It will be seen from Ilkley Moor - the new plans are horrendous," said Mr Appleyard.

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