Member Article

Durham village housing plan approved

Proposals to build 54 new homes at Flint Hill, near Stanley have been approved by Durham County Council’s planning committee.

Local people had objected to the scheme on the grounds that it would deprive the village of green space and was contrary to the former Derwentside District Council’s development policy.

However, committee members were told that this dated back to 1997 and that the council had to now take into account the National Planning Policy Framework, which states that there should be a presumption in favour of development that can be shown to be sustainable.

The report considered by members stated that the site was in a sustainable location, being within the framework of the existing settlement.

The Durham Villages Regeneration Company (DVRC) lodged the application to build a mixture of two, three and four bedroomed properties on 2.4 hectares of land south of Palmer Road – a site which has predominately been used as a paddock but is now covered in low scrub and grasses and a small football pitch.

As part of the application DVRC will upgrade the existing kick about area and make a financial contribution towards the provision of an extra classroom at the nearby St Patrick’s PC Primary School.

The Durham Villages Regeneration Company is a partnership between Durham County Council and Regeneration specialist Keepmoat. Over the last 14 years it has created over 1,000 affordable homes for sale, shared ownership and rent and invested a further £20 million in community facilities.

Commenting of the planning decision, Richard Bass, DVRC board member and Managing Director with Keepmoat New Build in the North East, said: “Whilst we are delighted that The Durham Villages Regeneration Company application to build new homes at Flint Hill has been granted, we are well aware that the proposal has not been popular with some of the villagers.”

“Throughout the process we have sought to amend and updated the scheme in response to local concerns. As a result of these discussions the number of dwellings that we now propose has reduced from 63 to 54. A number of other changes have been incorporated into our proposals including landscaping linkage to the adjacent nature reserve. We will continue to do what we can to work with the local community and minimise the impact of the building works on the village.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Paul Dobbie .