The passionate 'amateur' in a fight for Yarm

YVONNE Wallace smiles as she takes a moment to soak up the stillness of a sunny morning beneath Yarm Viaduct.

- By GARETH LIGHTFOOT Local democracy reporter

“This,” she says, “is what we're fighting for”

The businesswoman has lived in Yarm for 45 years and has seen “lots of change” Plans have come and gone, but one lit a fire of campaigning zeal for the Leven Park resident that shows no signs of dying out.

She says outline proposals from Taylor Wimpey for up to 600 homes on land east of Holdenfields Farm on Green Lane were “like a red rag to a bull. When I heard about it I thought, ‘How on earth?’ I just thought, enough’s enough’

The developer argues it is a “relatively modest” number of two-to five-bedroom homes, including up to 20 per cent affordable homes with open space and play areas. But the proposal was swiftly slammed as “utterly barmy” by Stockton West Conservative MP Matt Vickers.

It also set off a “real personal battle” for Yvonne, who says: “It's already a very, very busy, congested area. If you're coming up Leven Bank, that’s the main road into Yarm.

“That's what spurred me on. People living in Yarm have problems getting into the doctors:

“The doctors’ are full, the dentists’ are full, the schools are full.