COUNCILLORS have approved a major housing scheme that promises to provide funding for highways and school improvements.

The development will see the Durham Villages Regeneration Company, which is a partnership comprising Durham County Council and property developer Keepmoat, construct the new 78 homes on a 7.4 acre plot of land in Chester-le-Street, between the Hermitage Academy and Gibside.

Four of the homes will be sold at a 30 per cent discount to eligible buyers, and eight will provide an affordable renting opportunity through registered housing provider Karbon Homes.

The project will contribute half a million pounds to improvements in the community, including improving capacity at the Hermitage Academy secondary school, providing funding for open space play areas and enhancing the local ecology.

It will also fund highway improvements at the Pelton Fell Road/Whitehill Way junction. Councillor Carl Marshall, the council’s cabinet member for economic regeneration and chairman of the Durham Villages Regeneration Company, said: “The development in Chester-le-Street demonstrates our commitment to providing a range of housing schemes and regenerating local communities. It will not only deliver much needed homes for families and first time buyers in Chester-le-Street, but it will also bring new opportunities to the area through employment, training schemes and a range of local improvements.

“This is all part of our aim to not only build new homes but to transform neighbourhoods and invest in and support communities in which we work.”