A new application to turn a site near Morpeth that includes a Grade II listed country house into holiday let accommodation has been approved.

The fresh bid lodged by the owners of the 19th Century Tritlington Hall has been given the green light by Northumberland County Council planning officers under delegated powers.

The local authority turned down the initial plans by the Craigs family for the ‘change of use of Tritlington Hall and Stables from a dwellinghouse to holiday let accommodation, with internal and external alterations.’

It judged that they “failed to appropriately demonstrate that the scheme would not cause harm to the heritage assets” and there was also an issue in relation to the biodiversity net gain requirement.

A letter submitted with the new proposals said the biodiversity net gain issue had been resolved and it outlined the changes that the owners hoped would result in a different outcome for this application.

These included the following: “We will retain the chimney breast in the kitchen and retain the new entrance on the east elevation – but instead of removing the jamb at the back of the kitchen chimney breast to make the space for this, we will retain this and instead remove the partition wall into the utility room to give us the space that we need for that entrance.

“In the stables, we will refurbish the staircase.”

According to the planning statement for the bid, the repurposed seven-bedroom holiday home will retain as many of the hall’s existing listed features as practical but some changes will be made to provide high-quality facilities for guests.

In approving the application, the planning officer report included the following: “No major changes are proposed to the external elevations of both buildings.

“Overall, whilst the proposals would result in some less than substantial harm arising from limited alterations to historic plan form and the loss of small amounts of historic fabric, this harm has been minimised through the design process.

“The identified harm is considered to be outweighed by the public benefits of securing the optimum viable use of the listed buildings – bringing them back into active use and ensuring their long-term repair, maintenance and conservation.”