PLANNING officers will recommend that councillors turn down a proposal for new houses on the edge of a village.

Pillar Three Developments has applied to Durham County Council for outline planning permission for 22 houses at Byers Green, near Spennymoor.

It wants to build a mix of two to five bedroomed detached and terraced properties, along with areas of open space, on a field south of Byers Green House.

Access would be from Church Street and a dilapidated barn and stable would be demolished.

The application was submitted in 2016, at which time 25 houses were proposed for the 1.25hectare site, but time-dependent ecology surveys needed to be done before a decision could be made.

The applicant believes it to be a modest, sustainable development of poor farmland by a group of local lads.

In her report to the area planning committee (south and west), which meets on Thursday, senior planning officer Laura Eden recommends refusal of the plan.

She states: "The Local Planning Authority considers that the proposed development in terms of its location and poor access to services and facilities reliance upon private car movements and adverse landscape impacts would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits of the scheme."