ABOUT 90 council houses are expected to be demolished as part of plans to regenerate two deprived former mining communities.

Derwentside District Council has released plans to knock down 49 properties in Heathfield Gardens, Catchgate, near Stanley and a further 40 houses in Ewehurst Road and Ewehurst Parade, in nearby Dipton.

Most of the properties are empty and there have been no objections to the proposals.

Elsewhere in Derwentside, developers have applied for planning permission to build 122 homes.

George Wimpey North wants to build 43 properties on the site of the former council depot in Kitswell Road, Lanchester.

The development would consist of 25 flats in a three-storey block, nine terraced houses and nine detached properties. There would also be a new access road to join Kitswell Road.

Dunelm Castle Homes has submitted plans for 44 houses with detached garages, at Middles Farm, Middles Road, Craghead.

The plans would see the demolition of buildings on the site - a plant hire firm and two houses.

The firm has also applied for permission to build a further 35 houses next to the cricket ground at Quaking Houses, Stanley.

The development would be a mixture of three and four- bedroomed homes, made up of detached, semi-detached and terraced buildings.

There would also be a new access road and new access for the cricket club, plus a footpath to join the estate to a right of way to the east of the site.

Planning officers will recommend all the schemes for approval when the council's development control committee meets tomorrow, at 2pm in the council chamber, in Consett Civic Centre.