PLANS to build 14 flats and five houses in a village are being recommended for refusal.

The detailed plan is to develop a former garden machinery centre, in High Coniscliffe, near Darlington.

A previous application for new homes, on the site of the former Dick Lawson's garden machinery centre, which was submitted last year, was for 16 flats and five homes.

At that time, villagers were worried that the flats were too small and not in keeping with the buildings in the rest of the village.

Some villagers said building flats would encourage short-term tenancy, which meant the residents would not be contributing to the long-term future of High Coniscliffe.

There were also fears the village sewerage system would not be able to cope with the additional homes and concerns that there were too few parking spaces.

Outline permission for a development was granted last year, and the current plan, which is due to be discussed next week, is a detailed application and includes full plans for home design, landscaping and access and highway issues.

The plans were submitted to Darlington Borough Council by Kebbell Development Limited and will be considered by the planning committee on Wednesday.

Planning officers have compiled a detailed report for the development committee and have recommended that the application be refused because it is out of keeping with the rest of the village.

St Edwin's Close was the last housing development in the village, built 30 years ago.