WORK on a £200m housing development is about to take another step forward.

The Banks Group won planning permission to redevelop the 95-acre Mount Oswald golf course, off South Road, Durham City, last year and David Wilson Homes started building 60 luxury houses on the site this summer.

The project includes exclusive self-design homes, 1,000 student beds, family homes and community facilities.

Work is now set to begin on the site’s main access road: 450m long, reached from South Road.

A new traffic light-controlled junction will be installed opposite Howlands park and ride, where £1.8m will be spent expanding and improving the service.

It is hoped the work will be finished early next year.

John Ruddick, senior property development manager at Banks, said: “Building this road will open up a number of different parts of the Mount Oswald site and will act as a catalyst for taking the development of each of them forward.

“Our aim is to start work as soon as we can and the contract tender process we’re currently finalising will see North-East-based suppliers being appointed to do the work required, this adding even more to the contribution that this project will make to the regional economy.”

The scheme was deeply unpopular with residents, who said it would cost green space and cause traffic chaos.

However, Banks says 120 people will be employed on-site during the construction, plus a further 100 in the supply chain.

More than £4.2m will also go towards community projects, including £2m for off-site affordable housing, £250,000 for a new community building and £75,000 for school improvements.

For more information on the project, visit banksgroup.co.uk/mount-oswald