COUNCILLORS yesterday deferred making a decision on plans for flats to be built at a shopping precinct so they canvisit the site themselves.

CM Yuill and the Mowden Park Estate Company has applied for planning permission to redevelop the Mowden shopping parade in Fulthorpe Avenue, Darlington.

The developer, which owns the site, wants to demolish three of the shops and replace them with 32 flats. There are also proposals to refurbish the remaining shops, which were built in the 1970s.

But people living near the parade are opposed to the development, and more than 20 letters of objection and a petition have been sent to Darlington Borough Council.

Residents have raised several objections, including concern that three-storey buildings will overlook their properties, and that the development will increase road congestion.

Other worries include loss of green space and the flats dwarfing houses, causing loss of daylight for residents.

Darlington council believes any extra traffic generated by the new properties would be outweighed by the reduction in visits to the shops which are facing demolition.

Officers said concerns over unsociable behaviour by youths at the precinct will be addressed by a closed-circuit television, which will be connected to the council system.

Planning officers have recommended the plan be approved, subject to a number of conditions.

Members of the council's planning applications committee yesterday decided they would not make a final decision on the plans until they had seen the site for themselves.