A HOUSING association will kick-start a regeneration programme by building 11 bungalows.

But a local councillor claims this will do little to help residents of 87 homes earmarked for demolition as part of the scheme.

As final public consultations on the Thornley Housing and Regeneration Study take place, Durham Aged Mineworkers' Homes has announced plans to develop two courtyards of bungalows in the village.

Work on the £600,000 scheme, to be carried out in partnership with Easington District Council, will start next month, and the bungalows will be completed and let before the end of the year.

The association will build the two-bedroom bungalows, aimed at older people, in St Chad's Square. Councillor Greg Wharrier said the scheme would breathe new life into the community.

"The public consultation has been well supported, and local people seem right behind the production of a masterplan to regenerate the village," he said.

"Talking and planning is all well and good, but actions speak louder than words, and now we have some action."

The association, which manages more than 1,500 County Durham properties, has been awarded a grant from the Housing Corporation to undertake the development.

Its director, John Humble, said: "We have been involved in a number of successful regeneration programmes throughout Durham, and they always gain more momentum once the first phase gets under way.

"We are developing on the site of former council family homes, which were demolished by Easington council, and the new bungalows will certainly enhance the area."

But Independent ward councillor Brian Wilson, claims that uncertainty over the future is making residents of Thornley's Thornlaw North Estate, one of the areas implicated in the programme, "sick with worry".

He said: "We are talking about 11 houses and at least 87 people at Thornlaw North will have their homes demolished.

"How are they going to decide who gets the 11?

"People are very anxious."

* The latest in a series of public consultations on the programme will be held on Thursday at the Methodist Church Hall, in Thornley, from 10am until noon, 2pm to 4pm and 6pm until 8pm.