PLANS to build up to 80 homes on the site of a former school have been recommended for approval again.

The proposed site is on the former Springfield Primary School playing fields on the west side of Salters Lane South in a predominantly residential area and in close proximity to the Haughton Education Village and Haughton Village.

Members of Darlington Borough Council's planning committee will meet next week to look at the proposal which has attracted some opposition from Darlington Friends of the Earth and local residents.

An almost identical application was approved by members in March and the resubmission includes additional ecological surveys and detailed highways layout.

The development will include a mix of two, three and four bedroomed detached, semi-detached and terraced properties, with a new access road built off Salters Lane South.

The letter from Darlington Friends of the Earth raised a number of concerns including whether the correct wildlife surveys had been carried out and called for the retention of trees and hedgerows wherever possible.

The group has called for a investigations to be carried out in relation to bats and amphibians, including the protected great crested newt.

It reads: "We believe there are a few anomalies with the applicants planning statement and their ecological appraisal dated December 2017."

Amongst the objections and concerns from residents were issues about the protection of public rights of way and the protection of trees.

One resident wrote: "I do not want the house to be built directly behind my house as it will be obtrusive for it to be that close to build within 20 feet of my garden; It will also block my right to light as the sun rises and sets to the back of my house and it will devalue it."

While another resident wrote: "We have a pond and two doors away do and both have newts living in them which are protected and you can’t tell me they are not present at the other side of my fence in the field."

The report includes updated ecological reports addressing the issues of the great crested newt and bats.

It reads: "Nearby ponds are considered of good and excellent suitability for great crested newts; Survey found no evidence of great crested newts within either of the ponds and as such it is considered that the species is likely to be absent from the site."

  • The meeting, which is open to the public, is due to take place at Darlington Town Hall on Wednesday, June 27 at 1.30pm.