A REGENERATION plan that could eventually lead to 2,150 new homes built to the immediate west of Stockton will be discussed at two powerful committees.

The 115 hectare site - the size of more than 100 football pitches - would involve building about 1,150 homes around Harrowgate Lane and a further 900 at Yarm Back Lane, along with a new primary school, sports pitch, community centre and neighbourhood centre.

No specific plan has been submitted to the council but Stockton Borough Council is examining the idea as part of its Regeneration and Environment Local Plan (RELP), a guide used by the authority's planning committee.

However, planning officers have already been talking to landowners and potential housing developers about the idea and the fact that pylons in the area have recently been removed makes future development more likely.

Potential traffic problems are likely to be cause for concern for Hartburn and western village residents and a draft report before the council's planning committee this Wednesday (January 6) and cabinet committee the following week makes clear major road improvements would be needed at the junctions of Darlington Back Lane and Yarm Back Lane, the Horse and Jockey Roundabout at Durham Road and Harrowgate Lane and Leam Lane.

The council hopes housing developers would pay for those improvements but the most expensive change would be the Elton interchange on to the A66 and the authority would want the Government's Highways Agency to fund that.

The draft report cites a 2014 traffic study which argued housing development would have; "very little impact in the network wide traffic conditions...the highway improvements identified would successfully relieve traffic congestion at critical locations."

Other potential problems include worries over flooding and the report acknowledges "areas of the site are vulnerable to surface water flooding." The report goes on to say that any agreed plan must include a water drainage strategy.

There are no specially protected wildlife sites in the area but a population of Great Crested Newts, water voles, bats should be protected and hedgerows maintained where possible, the report says. Two streams, one leading to Greens Back and one to Rosedale Back, would have to be managed.

Hartburn Conservative councillor, Lynn Hall said she would closely examine the details of the plan but that the density of proposed houses seem "obviously too high."

"There is scope for some development," she said. "We have lost some of younger people to Ingleby Barwick and in Hartburn we're now an ageing population and that's something we need to look at. But this seems to be very high density housing. Something like this needs to be managed extremely carefully."