MORE homes are planned for Consett and Stanley as the north Durham housing boom continues.

Derwentside District Council's development control committee will meet on Thursday to look at plans by developers for another 130 houses.

At the same time, the authority is also looking to knock down 60 council-owned homes, with the land likely to be marketed as further sites for development.

The biggest development on this month's planning agenda will see Bellway Homes erect 86 detached and semi- detached houses on a 2.65- hectare plot of grassland to the north-east of the Aged Miners Homes, in The Middles, near Stanley. It lies on a natural terrace above Stanley Burn, and archaeologists have asked for a survey, because similar sites nearby have produced evidence of prehistoric occupation.

The builders have not made provision for a play area in their plans, and under Government regulations will pay £300 per house, £25,800, into the council's play area strategy fund.

The developer has also agreed to spend £21,000 on a woodland footpath and footbridge, linking the estate with South Stanley Local Nature Reserve. A further £10,000 will be given to the Great North Forest Initiative to help manage the woodland.

Persimmon Homes and Hermiston Securities have submitted a joint planning application to build 32 houses on land to the south of Railway Street, in Consett.

The Rooney family is applying to put up 11 properties on the former Deerness Fencing site in Newhouse Road, Esh Winning, near Durham.

The council houses identified for demolition are 30 homes in Greenwood Avenue, Burnhope, near Stanley, and 15 in both Cheviot Terrace and Cleveland Terrace in South Stanley.

The district council's development control committee meets in Consett Civic Centre on Thursday, at 2pm.