ON a wind-buffeted, barren mound on the outskirts of Darlington stands a poet, a sculptor, a countryside officer and a builder.

In the brown fields below, where mechanical diggers carve the shape of roads out of mud, the beginnings of the biggest development Darlington has seen in years - West Park - is taking shape.

Not a brick has been laid, not a blade of grass can be seen, but these four men, gazing out towards the A1, can already visualise the future in the earthen mounds and sunken trenches.

In just a few years the site will accommodate more than 700 homes, a school, a hospital, a rugby club, a pub and shops.

Sculptures and poetry will sit alongside the buildings and trees. An amphitheatre in the woodland on the hill will mark the centre of the new community.

In a matter of weeks the development will start being built. The long process of making the former Darchem factory site habitable and landscaping the ground is almost complete. Soon buildings will spring up just off the A68 at Faverdale.

Already 70,000 trees have been planted to form part of the country park which will sits astride the hill and beck running down the middle of the site.

In a matter of weeks, developer Bussey and Armstrong, under the leadership of Tony Cooper, will submit plans to Darlington Borough Council outlining the details of shops, a medical centre and a pub which will form an integral part of West Park life and serve the wider community in Faverdale.

Working closely with Mr Cooper on the development is council countryside officer Rob George, who is overseeing the creation of the country park, and poet Bill Herbert, whose text will intertwine with David Paton's imposing sculptures.

Sculptures and engraved poems reflecting Darlington's history and the wildlife which has settled on the West Park site will be placed at strategic points around the development, with one sandstone bulk clearly visible from the traffic flowing past on the A1.

Mr Cooper, whose ideas have helped to shape the development, has used local materials wherever possible and tried to design the whole scheme around sustainability.

Local volunteers will be encouraged to help the upkeep of the country park, which is being created in partnership with Tees Forest, and a bridge, which is being designed with the help of the artists, will mark the entrance from West Auckland Road into the country park.

Mr Herbert said: "Tony has had a vision to integrate the whole site into the life and history of Darlington. He has had an amazing insight into what the development should be like, how to make it a significant part of the town from the start."

By October, the first phase of homes will be ready on the site, and work on the hospital, set on 11 acres of land, begins next week.

The full planning application for the new school, which will replace the nearby Alderman Leach primary, will be put before the council next month.

Mr Cooper said: "Once the building starts, the whole place will come together very quickly. I can almost visualise it now. It was much harder to imagine it before we had finished the landscaping and planted the trees."