More than 175 homes to be built on two pieces of farmland under new plans

Story Homes has unveiled plans to bring 178 three, four, and five bedroom homes off Darlington Back Lane and Redmarshall Road.

It comes as applications continue to flow into the west of the borough as part of the vast 2,550 home West Stockton Urban Extension.

Planning documents offered more detail on what the Newcastle-based developer had lined up on the two parcels of land west of Fairfield, near Yarm Back Lane.

If approved, new access would be created to one parcel of the new homes from Darlington Back Lane with another T-junction at Redmarshall Road.

The parcel of land has already been allocated for almost 400 homes as part of Stockton Council’s “Local Plan” vision designed to cope with the borough’s rising population up to 2032.

Planning documents show builders aim to create two new pedestrian crossings as part of the vision as well as a new “village green” for the estate.

A total of 64 three bed, 88 four-bed and 26 five-bed homes have been lined up.

Developers have touted 100 construction jobs per year from the £35m proposals – calculating it could bring an extra £425,000 in council tax receipts to the authority every 12 months.

A total of 1,300 leaflets were posted to residents in October seeking views on the plans. And there were some concerns in the responses.

Worries over traffic, the number of homes, and how affordable the properties would be were among misgivings shared in the 131 responses.

An assessment commissioned by the developer found the “significant abnormal build costs” meant offering 20% of the homes as affordable would “render the scheme unviable”.

The planning report added: “With the assessment in mind, the scheme proposes 0% affordable housing and the applicant will work with the council with regard to the delivery of the infrastructure requirement.”

Design documents also revealed statistics on how residents responded to the surveys.

Almost 83% strongly disagreed that the site provided an appropriate location for new homes – and two-thirds didn’t agree the layout was well designed and attractive.

Almost three-quarters strongly disagreed with the mix of homes lined up on the two stretches of land.

Responses were offered in the design papers – with the developer pointing to the urban extension allocation and adding money had been lined up to work on the Elton Interchange, the Yarm Back Lane/Harrowgate Lane junction, the Horse and Jockey roundabout from other developments.

The report added: “Affordable housing will be taken into consideration as part of the development proposals, subject to viability implications.

“Regarding the mix of housing, the proposal provides a mix of three, four and five bedroom homes that will meet a range of housing needs in the area in terms of both size and tenure.”

The planning statement rounded off by arguing the new homes would bring long-lasting economic, social and environmental benefits.