THE chairman of Bidford Parish Council has promised that lessons will be learned, after his members backed a controversial planning application.

Last year councillors backed plans for a housing development on the old school site in Victoria Road , but since they were passed by Stratford District Council last May, councillors have come under fire from villagers who strongly oppose them.

Residents attending the parish meeting at Bramley Way last week, were told it was hard to envisage the plans by Westbury Homes before work started.

Parish chairman Fred Hiscock said: "It's not always possible to envisage how things are going to look. On the face of it, these houses looked like they were in keeping with the rest of the buildings.

"As a parish council we accepted the application. There are lessons we can draw from this application."

Members from Bidford Residents' Association, Peter French and Walter Stafford, were among members of the public who turned up at the forum wanting to know why councillors did not inspect a 3-D model of the plans before supporting them.

Peter French, from Salford Road, said: "I don't accept the argument that a model would not have given you an idea of how it would have looked. The skyline is completely ruined as you drive through our village."

Pamela Tompkins, of The Meadows, said after the meeting: "The parish has made a hash of this application."

Building work started on the development earlier this year after detailed plans were passed by the council on May 26, 2004.