RESIDENTS fear that a campaign against a major housing development on their doorstep is going to come to nothing.

Durham City Council's development control committee will be recommended on Wednesday to approve plans by Kepier Homes, a newly created company formed by construction firm Laing O'Rourke and the Three Rivers Housing Association for 70 apartments in four buildings on university land in Mayorswell Close, a conservation area near the city centre.

The site, which includes the Victorian-built Kepier House, used to provide student accommodation, but has been replaced by flats near the city's University Hospital.

Residents, who believe the development is wrong for the area, say they will hold a silent vigil when councillors visit the site tomorrow, ahead of Wednesday's meeting.

Residents' spokesman Bill Williamson, a retired professor, said the recommendation followed recent controversial planning decisions by the council and was "a real slap in the face to the people of the city".

He said: "Residents have looked forward to the demolition of some 1960s flats hoping they would be replaced by appropriate, high quality, mixed housing at residential densities of between 30 to 50 units per hectare that would enhance this world heritage city.

"The proposed development is for a flats-only project at 98 units per hectare and at a height even the planners acknowledge is at the very limits of acceptability.

"Over 100 residents have petitioned the council and a significant number have written detailed letters of objection.

"They point out that the proposed flats are too big, poorly designed, insensitive to the local environment and inconsistent with the Durham City Local Plan and residents' opinions about further residential development in the city, as expressed in the recent city-wide 2020 Vision survey.''

Professor Williamson said the development could add to traffic congestion and that the planning process was "deeply flawed to promote developer interests''.

A report to the committee says planning officials believe the development is a "genuine opportunity to enhance this area.''

Parts of the development are "undeniably assertive resulting in a height and mass which might be considered to be pressing at the margins of acceptability".

But the report adds that this is due to officers' insistence that Kepier House be retained "and the practical difficulties of developing a site due to the sloping terrain and ground structure"