A NEW village centre with shops, a residential care home and children's nursery is planned for a Newton Aycliffe estate.

The proposed development, which would create 150 jobs, is designed to serve a new estate being built in several phases in the Cobblers Hall area of town.

There are three elements to the development. The residential care home will be open for 24 hours, will have 31 beds and employ 31 staff and will be sited next to shops.

The children's nursery will employ 12 full-time staff and will open from 7.30pm to 6pm. It will cater for between 50 and 100 children and will include a system where they can be collected by a minibus and taken to the nursery.

There will be ten retail units, creating 90 full-time and part-time jobs. They will include a convenience store, bookmakers, health and beauty shop and a number of hot food takeaways.

The centre would be developed around a car park for 87 vehicles, with the shops backing on to a petrol filling station.

Although not part of the current proposals, a site has already been allocated for a pub in the new village centre.

A spokesman for Worcestershire-based developers Calderwood Property Investment, said: "I feel this local centre when built will be a credit to Newton Aycliffe and will go a little way towards getting people to shop in the town, rather than getting in a car and drive to Darlington and Bishop Auckland.

"This will have the effect of reducing car journeys in the area, which is in line with Government and planning policy.

"The centre will be a major employer with some 150 jobs being created when it is fully built and occupied."

The planning application will be heard by members of Sedgefield Borough Council's development control committee tomorrow.

Officers will recommend the scheme is approved, subject to conditions including landscaping, opening hours of the shops and a surface water run-off system to reduce the risk of flooding.

Planning officer Charlie Walton said: "It is a welcome development as far as we're concerned and we're hoping for an endorsement of our recommendation at the committee."