Garden-village setback will not scupper the proposals

Lugano Property Group has been working on the Dissington Garden Village proposal, near Ponteland, over a number of months.

It consists of 2,000 homes supported by education, leisure, medical, retail and employment facilities and the team submitted an expression of interest to the Government.

The scheme has the support of the Labour administration at Northumberland County Council, but after it was not among the list of 14 garden villages announced earlier this week, Conservative group leader Coun Peter Jackson has urged the administration at County Hall to withdraw its support.

However, Lugano remains optimistic after a spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government said it had received a high number of applications and a second round of approvals could be made in 2017.

Coun Jackson said that Northumberland Conservatives were clear from the outset that it could not be justified and did not meet the criteria.

“At the very least, the administration should now withdraw its support for this botched Dissington Garden Village scheme,” he added.

Coun Allan Hepple, cabinet member for economic growth at the county council, said: “While we are disappointed with the Government’s decision, an application has been submitted for a new garden village and it will be considered by the council’s strategic planning committee in due course.”