Concerns over size of development site

As previously reported, Northumberland Estates has submitted a bid for a total of 270 homes at Windy Edge, to be accessed via a widened Peter’s Mill Lane from Alnmouth Road.

A number of objections have been lodged by various parties, but the Alnmouth Road Residents’ Association recently raised additional concerns that the masterplan shows a site area of 30 hectares, while the Alnwick and Denwick Neighbourhood Plan, which does earmark this site for housing, allocates just 15 ha.

Responding to this, Colin Barnes, head of planning and development at the Estates, said: “The size of the proposed site at Windy Edge may run to 30 ha, but the land allocated for housing within it runs to just 8.36 ha.

“The remainder includes the land to be left as paddocks, the proposed bike track, environmental measures such as the SuDS (drainage) basins, as well as amenity and tree planting, and the creation of a new network of footpaths to provide access to these amenity area.

“The Alnwick and Denwick Neighbourhood Plan allows for exactly the 270 houses being proposed, so the application is, in fact, totally consistent with the neighbourhood plan on all levels.”

Peter Biggers, who wrote the housing section of the neighbourhood plan, said that he agreed with this, other than the inclusion of the paddock in the south-east corner of the site closest to properties, which was envisaged in the plan as a buffer, and is the basis of objections from Alnwick Town Council among others.