VILLAGERS in Low Dalby have stopped a sculpture by a Turner prize-winning artist being placed near their village.

Plans for the work - which is being created to commemorate the end of the First World War and the formation of the Forestry Commission in 1919 - were discussed by the North York Moors planning committee at a meeting in Helmsley on Thursday.

The sculpture is set to be created by Rachel Whiteread, who in 1993 became the first woman to win the Turner prize.

It is a replica of a Nissen Hut - structures first created during the First World War - and will be cast out of concrete in order to create a “haunting and lasting testament to the war’s impact on every part of the British landscape”.

In its planning application, the Forestry Commission sited the sculpture on a patch of land 140 metres to the south of Low Dalby village. A camp existed here in the 1930s, full of unemployed workers who were tasked with reforesting the landscape after the war.

Hayley Skipper of the Forestry Commission told the committee it would be the first time the work of an artist of Rachel Whiteread’s standing could be seen in Ryedale.

The application was supported by Ryedale District Council, and was also recommended for approval by moors planning officers, who said that in terms of visitor traffic: “It is not considered that the development would result in significantly greater activity levels than is currently experienced at this location.”

But the application was controversial. Nineteen residents of Low Dalby wrote letters of objection to the planning authority with a long list of reasons - key among them being the increased amount of pedestrian traffic coming through the village from the Forestry Commission car park in the north to the sculpture in the south.

Resident Dr John Allan told the committee: “We are not opposed to this sculpture - but it could be located to the north of the village or anywhere else in the forest with no loss of relevance.”

The committee agreed with him. A site visit for members was suggested by Jim Bailey, but this was voted down. The committee then voted for deferral with 10 for, one against, and one abstention. The moors authority will now send a “strong message” that the Forestry Commission find a different location for the work.