COUNCILLORS will next week be urged to approve the largest single site development in the history of Darlington.

An outline planning application for a 115-acre site at Faverdale will be discussed at a special meeting on Monday.

The ten-year development plan will lead to the building of a new community on the north-west fringes of the town.

The work, which covers the former Darchem chemical plant site, will result in the creation of a variety of homes and facilities, including a £15m NHS mental health unit and sports and recreation areas.

Darlington housebuilder Bussey & Armstrong Projects, which is behind the scheme, plans to turn the site into a landscape of woodland and public parkland, to be know as Darlington West Park.

If the plan is approved, the developer says it will create 120 jobs for local construction workers and more permanent jobs as various other parts of the development come on line.

Members of Darlington Borough Council's planning applications committee will be told that extensive consultation has been carried out and there is support for the development.

The Council for the Protection of Rural England says the reclamation of the Darchem site will provide more open space and reduce the need for future greenfield housing.

The scheme has also been supported by the Tees Valley Joint Strategy Committee and Durham Wildlife Trust.

The purpose-built mental health hospital will replace the existing Pierremont Unit at Darlington Memorial Hospital.

It will have 85 beds, day hospital facilities for up to 40 patients, and offer occupational therapy and workshop activity centres.

The development will also provide a new home for Mowden Park Rugby Club.

Among the facilities the club will offer are a floodlit pitches, a clubhouse, press and television facilities and seating/standing room for 1,350 spectators.

Hundreds of houses will also be built, along with a community shop, doctor's surgery and park.

Councillors are being recommended to grant planning approval subject to a number of conditions, including ensuring no homes will be occupied until all the reclamation work necessary on the former waste tip is complete.