PLANS to create 450 new homes have divided a community, with some residents welcoming the extra housing and others expressing fears over its impact on the town’s rural character.

UK investment business the ESRG group has submitted outline planning permission for 243 homes, a 50-bed retirement complex, a business hub, a community youth facility and a storage area near Salters Lane in Sedgefield.

The company is also seeking permission to create a 53-bed retirement complex and 218 homes, including 13 self-build plots on land near Beacon Lane in the town.

If approved, the developments, which are being designed by Gradon Architecture, will fulfil Sedgefield’s housing allocation set out in the pre-submission draft of Durham County Council’s County Durham Plan.

However, objectors claim the scheme will destroy the town’s rural character, create 'havoc' on surrounding roads, especially the roundabout near Bolam’s butchers, and increase pressure on schools and the doctor’s surgery.

Resident David Bowles, chairman of the Sedgefield Plan steering committee, said: “When you add these homes to those proposed in other planned developments for Sedgefield we are looking at over 1,000 houses. This is more than twice the number the county council has allocated the community.

“The people of Sedgefield do not want this development.”

Similar views were expressed at a consultation exhibition staged by the ESRG group in May and via a comments page on the company’s website.

However, others supported the plans, with one resident welcoming the prospect of new health and education facilities, which the developer hopes to build alongside the homes.

He said: “I think this is a positive step in creating much needed additional homes in the area, catering for the needs of all, from affordable homes to executive homes.”

Graham McDarby, design director at Gradon Architecture, said: “It is well-known that sustainable development is needed in Sedgefield.

“Our carefully designed proposal, submitted in partnership with ESRG and Haylock Planning and Design, offers a thoughtful alternative and sensitive way of delivering the 450 new homes that Durham County Council thinks the town needs.

“Our plans will also provide new community facilities to support the town’s sustainable growth in the future as more people look to live, work and raise their families in the town.”

The public can comment on the application until Monday, November 10, at www.durham.gov.uk