PERMISSION is being sought to create up to 100 family homes on farmland.

Banks Property has submitted an application for a new residential development in Barnard Castle.

The firm is drawing up plans for up to 100 family homes on a 5.5 hectare site to the north of the A67 Darlington Road, around a mile to the north east of the town centre.

Alongside the new properties, the development would also include direct access to existing public transport routes, new landscaping and enhancement of wildlife habitats, and an electric vehicle charging point installed at all homes, while its location minimises the need for additional traffic to pass through the centre of Barnard Castle.

If it is approved, around 60 full-time jobs would be supported on site during its construction period, with a further 90 jobs being indirectly supported through substantial investment in the regional supply chain.

The development would provide around £190,000 in additional council tax revenues for Durham County Council every year.

Last month, County Durham-headquartered firm Banks Property held a series of Covid-19 secure in-person and online consultation events in order to share information about the plans, gather feedback and answer residents’ questions, while it has also delivered information leaflets on the scheme to more than 4,000 properties in Barnard Castle, Stainton and Stainton Grove.

Duncan Holness, project manager at Banks Property, said: “Feedback from many of those that we’ve been speaking to has focused on the high demand for homes in Barnard Castle and a lack of supply which is forcing young people and families who’ve been brought up here to move away when they want to stay close to home.

“Providing a supply of new family homes is essential to the vitality and sustainability of every community, and in the current economic climate, it is more important than ever to ensure investment continues to flow into local communities and the regional economy.

“The Darlington Road site has been chosen as the most appropriate location in the area for a development of this type and would offer a range of different property sizes and designs, including 20 per cent affordable housing on site."

“It would also deliver a range of other benefits both on and around the site, and we hope Durham County Council’s planning committee will recognise everything that it would offer to the local area and wider region when it comes to consider our proposals.”

A decision on the Darlington Road development is expected to be made in the spring of next year.

For further information on the project, along with links to recordings of the two project webinars that Banks Property staged, visit banksgroup.co.uk/DarlingtonRoadBarnardCastle