A £31M luxury holiday development planned near Whitby has been hailed as potentially a “world class destination”.

It is proposed to build an array of holiday accommodation within the 80 acres of Raithwaite Hall at Sandsend near Whitby, in what is believed to be the biggest tourist development of its kind on the coast for generations.

The plans for 37 lodges, 82 apartments and 71 holiday cottages have been lodged with Scarborough Borough Council’s planning department.

David Walker - Scarborough council's senior planning officer - is recommending approval of the development at the authority's planning committee next week, said: “This will be an exciting expansion of the tourist accommodation and facilities already on offer at the Raithwaite Estate.

“It will add to the supply of quality visitor accommodation within the Whitby area and provide a boost to the local economy and tourism.”

The development has also received the endorsement of tourism organisation Welcome to Yorkshire, which stated: “This will be a huge development and the benefits to Yorkshire will be immeasurable. Raithwaite Estate will become Raithwaite Bay - a world class destination for both national and international tourism.”

But the scheme has been opposed by the local parish council for Sandsend, which stated: “The size is disproportionate in terms of it being adjacent to the coast and the North York Moors National Park."

There is also opposition from Whitby Civic Society based on the scale of the scheme, traffic issues and visual impact.

Cambridge Policy Consultants which has carried out a Socio-Economic Impact Assessment on the proposal estimates that it will benefit the Whitby area economy by £6.34m a year.

The developers, Yorkshire Ventures (Estates) Ltd, says the scheme will create 278 new jobs both on the site and in allied holiday businesses in the area.

Previous plans for the development, which will also include a restaurant, shop and café, were rejected on the grounds of visual and ecological impact but the latest proposals have been backed by the borough council and the North York Moors National Park Authority.

It says in a report to the council: "A key dimension of the jobs associated with the development is that they are not expected to displace or substitute for other economic activity in the area."

It added that other tourism and leisure businesses on the cost were likely to benefit because of the additional visitors.