PLANNERS will next week discuss proposals for a retail park containing almost 4,000sq metres of shopping space.

Discount food stores Aldi and Iceland, along with a Kentucky Fried Chicken drive-through restaurant, are among the high street names proposed for the eight-unit site at Albert Road, in the North Road area of Darlington.

Moorfield Group, which owns the Cornmill shoppping centre, in Darlington town centre, has submitted a detailed objection to the plans.

It claims the development would divert trade away and further undermine under-pressure town centre traders.

Occupiers of two houses in George Short Close, which is near the site of the proposed development, have commented in favour of the proposals.

The site sits to the south of Albert Road and to the east of North Road.

It is predominantly grassed over, although some businesses are currently located within the site, including a scrap yard and haulage company.

Papers prepared for a meeting of Darlington Borough Council's planning committee, which will discuss the proposals next week, said the development is expected to provide about 100 full-time and 50 part-time jobs.

The report states: "The site is adjacent to North Road district centre and the development is intended to operate as an extension to the existing district centre.

"The proposed buildings would be located around a central surface car park, with 158 parking spaces, accessed from Albert Road.

"A plaza is proposed in the north west corner, which is intended to form the primary pedestrian entrance to the site.

"The proposal includes two 'totem' sign panels."

Despite the objection from the Cornmill owners, town hall planning officers say the scheme is 'considered acceptable' in relation to retail policy.

The report to the committee adds: "Consideration has been given to potential alternative sites.

"However, due to factors such as size, configuration and lack of available parking, [they] were discounted as unsuitable for the needs of the operators the site is being marketed to."

The site is close to the Darlington to Bishop Auckland railway line, with the developer keen to reference the railway heritage of the area in the design of the buildings.

Officers are recommending that the scheme is approved subject to the council's director of resources being able to negotiate an agreement with the developer that it will carry out off-site work to protect the ecology of the areas surrounding the site, which include Northgate Conservation Area.

The committee meets at 1.30pm on Wednesday (October 22).