Hundreds object to plans by Banks Property to build 190 homes on Ashington field

Banks Property wants permission to build up to 190 properties on a 7.8 hectare site which will be accessed by a new road junction onto Wansbeck Road.

A spokeswoman for the developers, Jamilah Hassan, has said its aim is to “create a thriving new community that is a positive addition to the wider area”, but locals say it will be anything but.

A Facebook group called ‘Housing proposal by Dougie’s Pond’ already has around 300 members, and a petition against the development has attracted hundreds of signatures.

A public meeting was recently held at Bothal Primary, where around 150 concerned residents met to discuss Banks’ plans and decide how to respond.

Among the speakers was Tony Dodds, 52, who has lived in Ashington all his life and has taken on the role of chairman of the opposition group.

The objectors’ main concerns relate to road safety, the impact the homes will have on local services such as schools and GP surgeries which are already struggling to meet demand, insufficient infrastructure to cater for the large development and the effect construction of the homes could have on wildlife.

He said: “The impact of this development will be massive and local people are very much geared up for a public campaign against it.

"The land is valued by local residents and we want it to remain as it is.”

The plot, which contains a pond, is designated as ‘open countryside’.

Mr Dodds, a chartered town planner from Wansbeck Road, also pointed out that the Local Plan, published by Northumberland County Council in March, indicates the land should not be developed.

In addition, it falls outside the ‘settlement boundary’, which indicates where housing should be built, and he says the road which Banks propose to use as an access to the estate is not big enough.

He said: “That is a very narrow stretch of road. It won’t be able to stand up to five years of construction traffic using it, and then 200 families with probably more than one car per household trying to get out of the junction there. There is an issue of road safety.”

He added people were worried the new homes would jeopardise a flourishing wildlife habitat: “The sustainability of the pond will be in question if homes are built there.”

Banks recently hosted the first of two public consultation sessions.

One person who attended was Ashington Martin Thewlis, 49. He said: “I asked Banks if they planned to develop the land themselves or sell it to the highest bidder once planning permission was received, and they said a decision on that had not been reached.

"I then asked how they could make guarantees that the local environment and so on would not be damaged when it was likely they would hand over responsibility for this to another developer. I got no answer.

"The two representatives did not even make notes of any comments that we made. I believe it was a tick-boxing PR exercise rather than a fair and frank exchange to get the views of local residents.”

Banks is aiming to submit a planning application by the end of the year.

A spokesman for Banks said it was “too early to say” if the developer will actually build the 190 properties, but told the News Post Leader this week: “We have a long track record of working with industry-leading housebuilders across the region who sign up to working to the high standards that we specify, and to keeping the promises that we make to local communities.”

In an attempt to address locals’ concerns about the disruption caused during the site’s construction, should it get planning permission, he added: “A detailed construction management plan will be in place to safely and effectively deal with all operations during the construction period, including HGV traffic movements relating to the site’s development.”

He also argued that local roads were big enough to manage the extra traffic expected, despite locals’ views to contrary.

He said: “The proposed site for the new homes is ideally located to access shops and services on foot or by bike and assessments have shown that local roads do in fact have the capacity to manage future traffic flows in the area.”

The e-petition against the development can be accessed here.