Decision due on controversial Amble homes plan for antiques store and café site

Hindmarsh Homes is seeking permission for a ‘high-quality and inherently sustainable’ set of two terraces on the current site of Artique antiques store and café, formerly the Marina Arms pub, on the A1068 as you enter the town from Warkworth.

The proposals, which were lodged last March and would see the existing building demolished, are recommended for approval at a meeting of the North Northumberland Local Area Council on Thursday January 23.

Each four-bedroom house would have a three-storey main building facing onto the A1068 with a single-storey section to the rear connecting to an attached garage.

The properties would all have a sheltered courtyard area at the back as well as outdoor terraces to the front and rear on the second floor.

Access will be from the existing, but improved, entrance on the southern edge of the site, off Riverside Park.

Each property would have two parking spaces in addition to a garage, while the site would also feature visitors’ parking bays and a bin-collection area.

The bid has sparked just three formal objections, but also a petition against the scheme featuring 382 signatures.

Amble Town Council’s response says: ‘While Amble Town Council does not object to the principal of residential dwellings on this site, we feel the design should more appropriately reflect and consider the heights of the surrounding properties rather than the highest property across the road from the proposed development.

‘We will be sad to see a popular and valuable tourist retail outlet disappear from one of the entrances to Amble.’

However, the planning officer’s report states: ‘While the height difference remains with existing development to the north, the proposed units do not include window openings to this elevation, which will lessen adverse amenity impacts including privacy and overlooking.’

It adds: ‘The design and materials proposed are contemporary in appearance, but would appear complementary to neighbouring residential development.’

Approval would be subject to the completion of a section 106 legal agreement to secure a £4,200 ecological contribution to the council’s coastal mitigation scheme.