PLANS to build more than a dozen new homes on farmland have been given the green light by planning chiefs.

They granted planning permission for 16 detached two-story houses to go up at Woodhill Farm, in Ramsbottom, at tonight's meeting of Bury Council's planning committee..

The project will involve the demolition of a number of 'redundant and derelict' farm buildings as well as the construction of a new access road.

Nobody spoke to oppose the application at the meeting, but complaints received by planning officers included concerns over a loss of privacy and traffic and parking issues.

There were also objections to the access road being build on greenbelt land.

Stephen Williams, director of developer DT Joseph Development Ltd spoke in support of his companies proposals.

He told the committee: "Bury needs more housing and there's a shortage of housing sites within the borough. What that means is if you don't build on this site, you have to build somewhere else.

"I'm sure you're all experienced ward councillors and know that it's almost inevitable that, wherever you build, you will get objections. I suppose we can sum that up by saying 'you can't make an omelette without cracking a few eggs'."

Councillors voted to pass approve the application by 11 votes to one.