PLANS to build 101 homes on the outskirts of small village have been delayed after councillors called for more details on the controversial plan.

Many residents of School Aycliffe are strongly opposed to the scheme to build the new housing estate claiming it is not sustainable as school places were already over subscribed and transport links were not suitable.

Members of Darlington Borough Council's planning committee spent more than 90 minutes discussing the Miller Homes application before deciding to defer the application to enable the applicant to come back with further details.

Residents Jo Travers and Adam Lee both raised concerns about the scheme when they spoke at the council meeting.

Ms Travers called on members to refuse the application for several reasons, including the lack of public transport, it fails to meet national development guidelines and it is continued urban sprawl extending out of the village.

"The development fetters local people to be able to shape their local surroundings," she said. "It is just clagged on the side of the Chestnuts estate."

While Mr Lee, who has lived in the village for 37 years, believes that flooding would be a problem on the proposed site and said the development was not sustainable.

"There is nothing in the area whatsoever," he said. "There is no shops or pubs, the nearest place is Newton Aycliffe and that is two miles away."

David Coates, the council’s principle planning officer, defended the officers' recommendation for approval reminding members that the scheme did fall within the national planning guidelines.

"This is a development that does have a high degree of deliverability," he added. "There is a degree of certainty that we can solve one of the problems in the borough and build some houses."

The officer told members that an agreement had been reached with neighbouring Durham County Council to accommodate any primary school aged children in Newton Aycliffe as Heighington Primary was full.

Councillor Gerald Lee, who represents the Heighington ward on the council, called on the council to secure funding to extend the popular and successful school before approving any further housing developments within its catchment area.

And Cllr Charles Johnson said: "There is no evidence of it being sustainable. It is really all about putting houses on the ground. I think this application needs to be looked at again."

Members voted to defer the decision for Miller Homes to provide more evidence of the site's sustainability.