PROPOSALS to create a £50m designer outlet centre at Scotch Corner have been called in by the secretary of state for a public inquiry.

The plans to create the major shopping centre off the A1 were approved by Richmondshire District Council at the beginning of this year.

Draft proposals for the 250,000 sq ft complex feature 90 stores selling luxury brands such as Armani, Gucci and Prada, as well as cafes and restaurants. The shopping village is expected to create upwards of 700 jobs and once approved was expected to be open by 2016.

Under planning rules, the secretary of state can call in applications for major out of town developments if they think it is necessary.

Richmondshire councillor John Blackie, who threw his support behind the plans when they were being considered by the council, said news of the inquiry was a blow for what could have been a major jobs boost for the region next year.

Richmondshire District Council gave the plans unanimous approval in January.

“I question why it’s taken seven months to decide to call these plans in,” he said.

“If we had been able to get a confirmation of a start date, those 700 jobs and construction jobs would have been coming on stream by mid-2016. Now we’re seven months behind and will slip into another year.”

He said the development is projected to attract in the region of 2.5 million visitors a year, most of them travelling from a large radius around Scotch Corner. He said those visitors were likely to go on to further explore neighbouring areas such as Richmond, Northallerton or Darlington.

But the leader of Darlington Borough Council, Bill Dixon, disagreed.

“We’re very pleased it has been called in for review because I seriously believe it would harm not just our town centre but ironically Richmond itself,” he said.

“It is a very large development and for those reasons, given its proximity to not just Darlington, but Richmond, Northallerton and Thirsk, there’s a real danger that needs to be properly examined.”

Northallerton is currently the focus of another planned development, as Hambleton District Council leads a bid to convert the former Northallerton Prison site into a leisure and retail site.

Hambleton District Council leader Mark Robson said it was “difficult to guess” whether the planned out of town development at Scotch Corner would have an impact on Northallerton’s High Street until more detail of the plans were known.

He said: “Depending on what type of retail it ends up with determines whether or not it will have an impact, but equally, we intend to get on and develop the prison site as soon as possible.”