THE GO-AHEAD to build another 155 new homes in a rapidly expanding village could be given next week (Tuesday, December 1).

Planning permission has already been granted to develop nearly 300 new homes in Coxhoe, near Durham, in the last nine months alone.

Now Durham County Council officers are recommending councillors approve a scheme for 155 new homes to the south of the village, on 13.8 acres at Bogma Hall Farm.

The village is increasingly popular due to its location near to both open countryside and the A1(M).

Planning permission was granted for 30 new homes on the former Coxhoe Pottery site in February and in September councillors backed separate proposals for 190 homes on farmland near Parkhill and 55 more on the former limeworks site.

In July, consent was given for 50 new homes on land off Station Road, near the Bogma Hall estate.

However, some residents are concerned their village will not cope with the influx, saying there is already pressure on the medical practice and primary school.

A petition objecting to the Bogma Farm site being earmarked for housing attracted 445 signatures.

The latest scheme, from Barratt David Wilson North East, would include 27 homes with two bedrooms, 93 with three and 30 with four. Six of the properties would be bungalows. The proposals have been scaled back slightly, from 162 dwellings.

Coxhoe Parish Council has objected, saying the scheme is piecemeal and premature and what the village needs is housing for the elderly.

The highway authority is also concerned about the access, which would be via a widened existing exit from the busy A177.

However, the housing firm says the site is well contained and located and forms a “logical extension” to the village.

It would be a sustainable development and generate significant investment for the area, bosses say.

In a report to councillors, senior planning officer Henry Jones says the pros and cons as “finely balanced”, but adds: “The adverse impacts do not significant and demonstrably outweigh the benefits of the scheme in assisting to maintain housing land supply and the associated albeit limited economic benefits.

“Whilst (officers are) mindful of the nature and weight of public concerns it is considered that these are insufficient to outweigh the planning judgement in favour of the proposed scheme.”

The council’s county planning committee will consider the application at County Hall on Tuesday (December 1) at 1pm.