Plan for 88-home estate proposed for former farming site

An outline planning application proposes a housing development on land north of the former Rodridge Cottage Farm in Station Town, near Wingate.

Plan B Planning and Design Associates, acting on behalf of the applicant,  propose a mixture of bungalows, terraced and semi-detached houses and large detached homes.

Although the development will contain “low density” housing with around 16 homes per hectare,  a council report states, the development would result in “encroachment into open countryside”.

According to the application, commercial agricultural activities at the farm stopped several years ago with buildings subsequently used for commercial activities such as storage of machinery and food.

Although the farmhouse and buildings have been excluded from the application site, they will form the basis of another application for redevelopment.

The applicants are not expected to use the site for any commercial purposes in future, with the buildings currently vacant and disused, a report adds.

Durham County Council also hope to secure affordable housing on site by entering into a section 106 agreement with the developer.

This will be used to secure funds to education in anticipation of rising pupil numbers created by the new homes.

Existing site layout also makes use of two existing ‘stub roads’ to the adjacent Newholme Estate North development for vehicle access.

Scale and appearance will be decided at a later date with the final decision resting with Durham County Council’s area planning committee.

For more information on the application, visit: publicaccess.durham.gov.uk/online-applications

Chris Binding , Local Democracy Reporting Service