PLANS have been unveiled for a massive £75m development to breathe new life into one of the last remaining legacies of Darlington's industrial past.

A 115-acre site at Faverdale is set to become the largest single development site in the town's history.

An outline planning application is due to be made this week to the borough council for a ten-year development plan that will lead to the building of a major new community on the north-west fringes of the town.

The work, which covers the former Darchem chemical plant, would see the creation of a variety of new housing and facilities, including a £15m NHS mental health unit and sports and recreation areas.

The Darchem site will be reclaimed and transformed into Darlington's first new public park in almost 50 years.

Darlington housebuilder Bussey & Armstrong Projects, which is behind the scheme, plans to turn the site into a landscape of woodland and public parkland, to be known as Darlington West Park.

If the plan is approved by the council, the developer says it will create 120 jobs for local construction workers and more permanent jobs as various other parts of the development come on line.

Tony Cooper, director at Bussey & Armstrong, has described the proposed development as very exciting.

"Some of the big builders are not bothered about what they leave behind but, because we are a Darlington firm that only builds houses in Darlington, we want to do something innovative and good for the town," he said.

"Everybody has been scratching their heads over what to do with this site, but after 12 months of investigations by geologists and environmentalists we have been given the go-ahead to start reclamation work."

If planning permission is granted, work could start on site within the next 12 months, with the first houses being built shortly after this.

Also included in the plans are a new ground for Mowden Park Rugby Club and a new home for a £15m purpose-built mental health hospital.

Since last summer, health bosses in South Durham have been looking for a suitable site to build an 85-bed hospital.

The new centre - which should open in 2003 - will be a replacement for the outdated Pierremont Unit in the grounds of Darlington Memorial Hospital.