RESIDENTS are being urged to attend public exhibitions on a housing development that campaigners fear will dwarf a village.

Persimmon Homes North-East has lodged a detailed planning application with Chester-le-Street District Council for 252 homes and associated infrastructure, at Newfield Farm, Newfield.

The site was allocated for residential development in the council's local plan, adopted in 2003.

The exhibitions will be held at Roseberry Primary School, Pelton Lane, Newfield, on Saturday, from 11am to 2pm, and next Wednesday, from 6pm to 8pm.

Council officers will be there to explain the company's proposal and to answer any questions.

The Newfield-Pelton Action Group is fighting the plan, and is urging residents in Newfield and nearby Pelton to attend the exhibitions to find out what is proposed.

The group fears the development will be out of scale with the existing village, turning it into a commuter dormitory. They add that the project threatens the future of businesses on the site and will put a strain on the area's roads, GP surgeries and schools.

The group hopes the exhibitions could help to galvanise opposition to the application.

Group spokesman Iain Fergusson said: "We are trying to get as many people as possible to go to the exhibitions.

"Our strategy is to raise awareness about this development, but the big problem we have got is the lethargy factor.

"We know from our own survey that people don't want it, but getting them to do something about it is like pushing water up hill.

"What we will be shown will certainly not be from our point of view - it will be the council putting over Persimmon's point of view. But the more people that know about it the better, from our point of view.''

The group is planning to send forms to more than 1,000 homes, inviting people to support or object to the plan. and intends to set up a website.

The council's acting planning services manager, Stephen Reed, said council officers would give the plan careful consideration and were seeking the "widest possible community engagement''.

The plan can be seen at Chester-le-Street Civic Centre, on the council's website www.chester-le-street.gov.uk and at Pelton Library.

The plan is expected to go to the council's development control committee in February