PLANS to demolish a 133-year-old landmark, which was built for a former Lord Mayor of York and now houses a social club, could be approved next week.

RHW Developments Limited wants to knock down the Victorian Gothic-style Burnholme Social Club and replace it with 28 houses and nine flats, as well as building a replacement club which would be cheaper to run as the current facility is draining funds.

Its proposals will be debated by City of York Council’s area planning sub-committee next Thursday.

They have been recommended for approval by planners, in spite of two local councillors saying the scheme needed a rethink.

The Burnholme Drive building dates from 1880 and was built for John Bellerby, who was the city’s Lord Mayor in 1877-78, but it has been used as a social club since the 1930s.

The development would have 25 two-bedroomed and 12 three-bedroomed homes, while a children’s play area is also included, although North Yorkshire Police has said gates should be fitted to prevent antisocial behaviour.

A report by Jonathan Kenyon, the council’s development management officer, said: “This development would deliver housing, including affordable housing, which is of the type and need required in the city.”

His report said the site was suitable for new homes and the scheme would not have a major impact on nearby residents, while RHW had said the existing building was “no longer fit for purpose” and only six of 74 comments made at a public consultation were against the plans.

Eight objections have been sent to the council.

They claim the site should instead become a school or another community facility, that the development would cause parking and crime problems and that the design would be out of character with the area.

Heworth councillors Ruth Potter and Barbara Boyce have criticised the proposals.

Meanwhile, plans by Moorside Developments Ltd for 12 two and three-bedroomed homes on the former site of the Yearsley Grove Hotel in Huntington Road, which has recently been demolished, have been recommended for approval at the same meeting