Seaton Delaval homes plan: Councillors to make site visit before reaching decision

Councillors were unable to make a decision on the housing application.

Developer Bellway Homes had submitted plans for 92 new homes on land south of Avenue Road and the Plant Based Valley site in the village, but faced opposition from the NHS.

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is the owner of the adjoining ‘Northumbria Healthcare Manufacturing and Innovation Hub’ used by the Trust for a range of NHS services including clerical functions, the storage of medical records and PPE manufacturing.

The trust say the wider site has huge potential to provide a Northumbria Healthcare office, manufacturing and warehousing space to “service their own supply chain and meet clinical and operational functions both within Northumberland and across the wider region moving forward”.

The health service also feared that the potential development could have an impact on future uses of the site.

However, Bellway’s planning agent James Hall said the company was “very mindful of the current and potential future applications of the site”, and that it had been in “regular contact with the NHS”.

He added: “Bellway does not want to impede any development. We have future-proofed it as much as we can.”

Despite this, councillors were reluctant to grant the development planning permission.

Coun Barry Flux proposed approval, arguing he was unable to find a planning reason to refuse the application.

However he was unable to secure a seconder for his motion, meaning no vote took place.

Coun Les Bowman proposed refusal of the application, aruging it was “Not in line with the local plan and it inhibts the NHS in its development in the future”.

He added: “We need to protect employment where we can. To me, it is just nonsencial. It is not designated as housing land.”

Council officers pressed members for a lawful planning reason, but one was not forthcoming.

In the end, Coun Malcom Robinson proposed a site visit so members could see the site for themselves and better asses the application, meaning it was deferred until the committee’s next meeting in November.