A HOUSING developer will have to plough £85,000 back into a village community if a new homes scheme is to be approved.

A revised planning application has been submitted to Darlington Borough council for 84 houses on the C N Hadley industrial brownfield site in Middleton St George.

Residents have voiced concerns that the development will mean there will be too many houses in the village and the extra families moving in will put a strain on the local school and doctor's surgery.

There are 11 different house types proposed for the scheme ranging from two to five bedroom detached properties.

Planning officers have recommended that the proposals be approved subject to conditions as well as the developers signing an agreement that will secure certain financial contributions.

The move will mean developers George Wimpey North East Ltd will have to give £85,238 for use in the community.

A section 106 agreement has proposed Wimpey gives £55,000 for maintenance and improvement of an existing play area in the village.

A further £15,000 should be provided for traffic calming measures, £5,208 to help fund expansion of the village school and £5,000 for a tree planting scheme.

It was also recommended a sum of £20,000 was paid to provide raised kerbs and two new bus shelters and £15,000 for a bus subsidy to help improve early morning services.

At a Middleton St George parish council meeting Coun Doris Jones urged villagers to look at the planning gains that the development could bring.

She said she had presented a 'shopping list' of proposals to the developers following a meeting with the local authority.

The parish council recommended approval subject to parking, a lit footpath, drainage, landscaping and improvements to the square

Conditions imposed also include a lit footpath between Woolsington Drive and Station Road and the provision of extra parking spaces.

The Council for the Protection of Rural England objected to the original layout because it was unoriginal and unimaginative.

The development will go before the council planning committee on Wednesday April 30 at 1.30pm.