■ Developer working to address ‘fundamental concerns’ with plans

in order to confirm that future settlements, including creep compression, are tolerable in relation to the proposed foundation solution.

“It is likely that residential housing and other buildings will be constructed on either raft foundations or reinforced strips following a large-scale earthworks operation.

“There is also the potential for unrecorded mineshafts.”

According to the council, a revised target decision date of October 30 has been set, but campaigners from Keep it Green remain hopeful that some of the site will be protected as a result of the ground conditions.

A statement said: “A number of concerns were raised (after the plan’s original submission), including matters that the council considered to be unsatisfactory and which needed to be addressed further.

“We asked the council for an update on the position and the brief response was that the next submission of information from BWC was likely to be in September at the earliest.

“The council will issue a re-consultation when this is submitted.”