THE future of an Edwardian building in Darlington's West End is still in the balance.

Local people, architects and conservation groups thought the Chesterfield building, in Stanhope Road, had been saved from the bulldozers when proposals to demolish it were dropped earlier this year.

A new scheme was drawn up by the developers which would have left Chesterfield and the existing Chorley Cottage untouched.

But at a meeting in April, members of Darlington Borough Council's planning applications committee refused to grant consent for 12 flats to be built within the grounds of Chesterfield, until the building's future was also clarified.

Since then, the company behind the scheme, Darlington Homes, has held meetings with planning officers and stated that it does not wish to commit itself to the retention of Chesterfield House.

The reasons for this relate mainly to the cost of converting the building, particularly as structural problems would need to be corrected.

Darlington Homes also feels that given the building's relatively modern construction date, about 1914, the retention of the building should not be required on a matter of principle.

This leaves the future of Chesterfield House, owned by Darlington Building Society, still in the balance.

The planning applications committee meets again today to discuss the flats scheme and councillors are again being recommended to approve the application, despite the fact that it still contains no proposals for Chesterfield House and Chorley Cottage.

At April's meeting council leader John Williams said: "I am uneasy about giving planning permission for this when there should be comprehensive proposals for the whole of the site.

"If it is approved now, it could be something of a Trojan Horse for any future applications for Chesterfield House."

Thirty letters of objection have already been submitted against the present scheme from local people and businesses.

They have cited a number of reasons for their objections and they include:

The height of the block of flats is out of proportion and character with the conservation area.

There are already too many flats in the area for which there is no demand.

The proposal should not be considered in isolation when it is unknown what is to happen to the Chesterfield building