VILLAGERS are celebrating victory after controversial proposals to build a climate positive house on a popular spot in green belt land were turned down. The application, which would have seen the house - described as a Bond Villain s lair by one objector - built on land south of Church Lane in Riding Mill. The applicants attempted to use Paragraph 79 of the National Planning Policy Framework, which allows new dwellings to be built in the countryside where they are of exceptional design, to get around the green belt issue. Speaking at Tynedale Local Area Council s virtual meeting on Tuesday, Rob Murfin, the council s director of planning admitted that the house was of exceptional design - but argued that it did not enhance the area.