The site wraps around Burton Beck Farm, a former working farm which has since ceased operating. Credit: via planning docs

Barratt hopes for third time lucky on 300 Spennymoor homes

22 July 2025 06:48 Sally Gibson Comments (0)

Despite having plans rejected twice already, the housebuilder is looking to develop phase six of Burton Woods in Durham, part of the wider Whitworth Park scheme.

The project team includes DPP Planning, Pod Architects, and SLR carried out the landscape strategy, which has been billed as a key part of the development’s design.

The 34-acre plot of land is north of Barratt Homes’ existing phase five development at Whitworth Park, which has now been built.

The planning history on this site has had its share of back and forth between the housebuilder and the council.

Following pre-application meetings, an application for 300 homes with 200 designated as affordable was submitted to Durham County Council in April 2022, and was rejected because the council believed the development would encroach onto the countryside landscape.

Efforts were then made to address the concerns raised, with plans once again submitted in November 2023.

Despite being recommended for approval by planning officers it was again rejected in March of this year, this time on the grounds that there isn’t sufficient pedestrian and public transport connections to amenities.

The council also said that the benefits of the development would not outweigh the harm done to the loss of prime agricultural land.

This current planning application has been adjusted, with a different housing mix, layout, and landscaping, with the result that the proposed affordable housing mix has been reduced from 200 down to the statutory 15%, or 45 homes.

Of these affordable units, it is proposed that 70% will be for rent and 30% sold at a discounted price.

The site is located around 1.5km from Spennymoor centre, 11km south of Durham and 7km east of Bishop Auckland, the site is accessed from Whitworth Road and links to the A1 and A167.