AN application to build housing on the site of a former council headquarters looks set to be approved.

Planning officers at Durham County Council are recommending that the application to build 80 homes on the site of Easington District Council’s offices be approved.

House builder Persimmon has lodged a bid to develop 62 two-bedroom homes and 18 three-bedroom homes on the prominent two-hectare site in Seaside Lane, Easington.

The developers say there would be two access points into the new estate, one from Seaside Lane and a second from Thorpe Road.

Members of the authority’s Area Planning Committee (Central and East) will decide the application when they meet at County Hall in Durham on Tuesday (June 10).

Originally built as a 19th Century workhouse, the site was used as a hospital and offices before becoming home to Easington District Council until its abolition in 2009. Most of the remaining buildings were demolished last year with some fixtures and fittings transferred to Beamish Museum.

Easington Village Parish Council has lodged a formal objection to the proposal, claiming the emerging County Durham Plan only allows for 63 houses on the site.

The council also says it has concerns over extra traffic, loss of trees on the site and pressure the development would put on local school places.

Two letters of objection have been registered from local residents, voicing similar concerns.

However, developers insist that plans have been amended to take into account local concerns voiced during a consultation process.

They also say that 10 per cent of the development would be made available at affordable prices, including rental and sale.

Planners recommended that the application be approved, subject to a number of conditions including a payment of £40,000 towards play and recreation in the district and another £15,000 towards the upkeep of footpaths.