STAINDROP parish councillors have largely welcomed the possibility of 48 new homes being built in the village.
News that pre-application advice had been sought for the homes came to light through a freedom of information request last month, but little was known about it until the developer, James Trotter, presented his plan to the council during its meeting last week.
He said the development, on land south of Sudburn Avenue, would be a mixture of two, three and four bedroomed homes. Seven of the new-builds would be affordable housing.
Entrance to the development would be via the Cleatlam road, which passes Staindrop Academy.
Mr Trotter said an agreement had been reached with highways officers at Durham County Council to introduce a 20mph zone in front of the school and for the installation of a “speed cushion” .
New signage would also be covered by the developer.
Mr Trotter said the development was ideally situated for children to access both the academy and the village’s primary schools.
He said: “My hope and passion is that we are going to make Staindrop sustainable.”
Steven Longstaff, a planning agent working for Mr Trotter, added: “It just feels like an appropriate scale of development for the village given the services that are here.”
Councillors welcomed Mr Trotter’s decision to consult with them before submitting a formal planning application.
Cllr Roger Humphries pointed out that the council had in the past supported the idea of housing at the site.
He said: “This has a long history going back to the early 90s. There is a resolution somewhere where the parish council unanimously agreed that this was a better site than the one that was originally proposed – but there was always a problem with the district council who were cryptic in their working.
“Ultimately in 2002 , I think, this site here was zoned as industrial and this is a saved policy. I think this [housing development] is infinitely better.”
He added that the parish council had objected to the site being designated as industrial.
Cllr Humphries said: “The thing that is reassuring about this is it is within the boundary limits, it is in the local plan. You are not developing on a straightforward greenfield site as such. That is my personal view at the moment.”
