A NEW 'mini-mall' is to be built in Ingleby Barwick after plans were approved.

The new shopping centre, just off Bancroft Drive, will have a cafe, shops, bistro, take away and possibly a restaurant and could be open as soon as this autumn.

Members of Stockton Borough Council's planning committee approved the plan despite members of the public and several councillors raising serious concerns and more than 30 letters of objection.

One member of the public, David Stovell, argued that approving the shopping centre would badly undermine the existing Myton Park shopping area which contravened the council's own policy. Others raised concerns about lack of parking, traffic issues and highway safety, especially for the residents of Bancroft Drive whose visitors often park in the road.

And, at the meeting at Stockton Central Library, Eaglescliffe councillor Phil Dennis said the artist's impression of the shopping was misleading. "If you look at the images it looks like a green and pleasant environment. But if you look at the plans and the houses nearby it is actually tight and constricted."

Cllr Sylvia Walmsley expressed concern that, with the land purchase costing £1m an acre, rents would be too high and some of the shops would be empty.

But, speaking from the public seats, Ingleby Barwick Independent councillor Ross Patterson argued for the development. He said: "Each of the (six) villages comprising Ingleby was supposed to have its own centre but three of them have no centre, they're just houses. Back in 1992 the chief planning officer told me, if nothing was done Ingleby would become a middle class ghetto.

"We've got a situation where 25,000 people are without a single restaurant. Here we have a high class set of shops and retail which should always have been part of the plan. Nothing in Ingleby is ever ideal, but you've got to look what's in front of you. It's the last chance saloon.'"

Committee member Michael Clark also argued for the plan, arguing it would create jobs.

Addressing concerns raised, Simon Grundy, planning officer, said the larger Myton Park site offered a supermarket, leisure and child care facilities and shouldn't be affected by the new, smaller retail centre. Highway concerns were also addressed by the council's officers who offered assurances that safety measures would be in place and enforced.

After hearing the assurances, Cllr Dennis spoke a second time accepting that Ingleby Barwick needed more diversity and a bigger range of facilities and eventually the committee overwhelmingly approved the application.