IT was dubbed a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform County Durham’s economic fortunes, turning it into a regional powerhouse for decades to come.

One of the most ambitious growth plans the region had ever seen, the County Durham Plan (CDP) contained proposals for 31,400 new homes, 500 hectares of employment land and 9,500sq metres of retail space, with the aim of creating 30,000 jobs – 23,000 of them new jobs – by 2030.

Durham City was to become a northern powerhouse boom town with one of the fastest growth rates anywhere in the country and 5,000 new homes, mostly across three sites – near Sniperley, north of the Arnison Centre and east of Sherburn Road Estate.

Aykley Heads, currently home to Durham County Council, would be reborn as a world-class business hub capable of attracting the national headquarters of major firms – building on the commitment of Atom, the world’s first “telepathic bank” which hopes to create up to 400 new jobs when it opens soon.

Across the county, Bishop Auckland, Spennymoor, Barnard Castle and other settlements would have thriving town centres and new homes would be built in desirable areas such as Sedgefield and Lumley.

Council chiefs said the CDP would end County Durham’s stay at the bottom of the regional economic pile, boosting the proportion of the population in work from 66 per cent to 73 per cent.

The heavyweight blueprint was at least five years in the making and cost the taxpayer more than half a million pounds.

It won support from numerous businesses and developers, with millionaire former Newcastle United chairman and County Durham businessman Sir John Hall saying it would end the county’s time as a “sleeping giant”.

Indeed, some landowners and housebuilders pressed the council to be even more ambitious in its development goals.

However, green campaigners and residents’ groups felt otherwise.

The Friends of Durham Green Belt mounted a determined effort to save the protected open space around Durham City from development, supported by the City of Durham Trust, Durham City Neighbourhood Planning Forum, Durham City MP Roberta Blackman-Woods and others.

It was the Friends who attracted environmentalist Jonathon Porritt to Durham City in July 2012, when he described the CDP as completely manic, way over the top and unbelievably damaging.

Away from Durham City, there was simultaneously anger too many new homes were proposed for Sedgefield and too few were earmarked for rural Teesdale.

Planning Inspector Harold Stephens largely kept his views to himself during a gruelling six-week examination-in-public held at Durham County Cricket Club last autumn, save for one firm intervention when he ordered the council to rethink its student housing policy, giving the authority just two weeks to complete an “urgent” review.

Some observers took those comments as evidence Mr Stephens was growing increasingly dissatisfied with the council’s response to objectors’ arguments; although council chiefs insist today’s damning report came as a complete shock, the authority having had regular discussions with the Planning Inspectorate throughout and been given no indication of what was to come.

What happens now is difficult to say. The Coalition Government has introduced sweeping changes in the planning system, meaning even the experts are trying to work out the next steps.

The council has no right of appeal, though it is urgently seeking talks with the Planning Inspectorate to clarify Mr Stephens’ comments.

Developers and businesses whose success depends on the CDP being approved could challenge the report, possibly through the courts, although again how that would pan out remains unclear.

More importantly, what of the future of County Durham? Is it to languish, or be revived? Will it forever be an “ex-mining” area, or is there a brighter tomorrow?

Whether you liked the CDP or not, Mr Stephens’ rejection of it only adds to the uncertainty, asking many more questions than it answers.