High demand expected for new housing scheme in Northumberland village

Final details of the plans for a 36-home scheme were approved by Northumberland County Council earlier this month.

Now, the seven-acre site adjacent to the historic Embleton Hall has been sold to Alnwick-based housing developer Cussins.

The homes will be a mixture of two to five bedroom family homes set in a prime position on the edge of the village and with views over open countryside to the coast.

The scheme also includes six affordable units.

Ray Minto, director and head of development at Savills in Newcastle, believes the site will generate plenty of interest among would be buyers.

“Longframlington is a much sought after, affluent village and the sale of this site creates a pipeline for much needed housing delivery in Northumberland which will benefit the local community for generations to come,” he said.

“The popularity of the area was clearly demonstrated by the bids for this site, which were received from a wide range of developers including PLC housebuilders through to regional SMEs and local builders.”

Outline planning permission for 40 homes on the site south of Lightpipe Farm was granted on appeal in 2019.

But Cussins submitted a scaled back reserved matters application last summer which recently approved by planning officers using delegated powers.

The outline application had twice been turned down by councillors.

In August 2018, planning officers had recommended approval but members disagreed, saying that part of the village should not be ‘sacrificed’ to gain upgrades to the A697/C106 junction.

The applicants, Rosemary and Claire Armstrong, lodged an appeal, and this was dismissed – but only because a completed section 106 legal agreement was not submitted.

A second application was then lodged with councillors once again recommended to back the scheme in November 2019. However, it was only a ‘minded to approve’ recommendation, as an appeal for non-determination – not dealing with the application quickly enough – had already been submitted.

This meant the final decision was out of the hands of the local authority and an appeal inspector concluded ‘that the benefits of the proposed scheme would clearly outweigh the harm’.

In recent years there have been a number of new build residential developments in Longframlington, including Fenwick Park and Armstrong Grove by Cussins.

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