A DEVELOPER wants more time to pay £18,000 to a council after becoming a victim of the stalled housing market.

Plans to redevelop the site of Chesterton Ex-Servicemen's Club by building a new club, 119 houses and a commercial unit were approved in June 2008.

It included a condition that the developer must pay £18,000 to Newcastle Borough Council before the work started.

But developer Millwood Homes wants to delay the payment for nine months.

The council's planning committee will discuss the request tomorrow night.

A report states: "Millwood Homes is a local company employing local people.

"Throughout the economic downturn it has kept trading, keeping people in work and providing much-needed homes.

"The current climate has exerted a number of negative external pressures.

"It is not seeking to reduce the level of the contribution, but simply request latitude over when it is paid."