Coniscliffe Park housing estate in Darlington to be approved

Planning committee members are due to meet at the Town Hall next Wednesday to consider two separate applications for the huge Coniscliffe Park housing development. 

The proposals - up to 535 homes north of Coniscliffe Road and 985 homes south of Staindrop Road - are part of a wider masterplan for the area. A mix of two-bed to five-bed homes are proposed for the site. 

The 190 acre-development as a whole will create up to 1,520 homes, along with a range of facilities including a local convenience store, a primary school, a GP Surgery and recreational facilities. The two sites would be linked together by a central spine road, if approved. 

Where the new housing development could be built (Image: Handout)

Located on the western edge of Darlington bound by the Baydale Beck to the east and the A1(M) to the west, the new estate would see a significant increase in people living in the area.  

Also nearby is the Mowden housing estate and Broken Scar Water Treatment Works. 

The application site is designated for housing in the Darlington Local Plan, which it says will contribute towards meeting the borough’s housing need. 

However, developers Gladman Developments and Taylor Wimpey have faced criticism over the plans since they were first revealed in 2017. 

The schemes were originally due to be considered by Darlington Borough Council's planning committee in June 2019. But this was deferred on legal advice until the Darlington Local Plan, setting out planning priorities until 2036, was in place.

Lengthy council reports prepared ahead of the meeting also detail the dozens of concerns residents have raised in the build up to the plans being considered by the committee. 

Concerns include the impact the 1,520 homes will have on existing local services including schools and GPs, with people already struggling to secure places or appointments. Several traffic warnings have been raised, with many people calling for better access to the site amid the already heavy traffic in the area at peak times. 

“This proposed development is not in a sustainable location and should not progress until a strategic road network is in place,” one complaint read. 

The proposals - up to 535 homes north of Coniscliffe Road and 985 homes south of Staindrop Road - are part of a wider masterplan for the area. (Image: Handout)

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The potential environmental impacts of the schemes have also been highlighted by the Darlington Friends of the Earth group. 

Both developers said affordable housing will be provided. 

The planning committee meeting takes place on Wednesday, December 20 at 1:30pm.