Green light for executive homes plan at Berwick site

The proposals, submitted by local housebuilder GMC Developments, will see 30 homes in a mix of apartments and houses built on a former brownfield site on the riverbank.

Located on the south side of the river between Spittal and Tweedmouth, the former industrial site currently consists only of a dilapidated jetty.

However the company plans to revamp the area with three separate buildings containing apartments flanked by townhouses.

A previous application for 35 homes was rejected on the grounds of the height of the development, but councillors on the North Northumberland Local Area Committee unanimously voted to approve the new plans on Thursday.

Speaking at the meeting, GMC director Neil Craig said: “We have developed 150 homes since the company was set up by my father in 1976. Over the last five years market conditions in the town have changed.

“We have had to look elsewhere for sites due to large developers taking others, so we have acquired brownfield sites and turned them into successful sites.

“We aim to provide homes of character and special interest.”

He added that approving the development would secure jobs for his team and in the supply chain and he felt GMC had supported Berwick well over the years.

Coun Guy Renner Thompson, who represents the Bamburgh ward, believes the development shows that the town is on the up.

The county council’s cabinet member for education said: “I think it is an excellent application. A good use of a site which has laid empty for a long long time.

“This requires a town moving forward, that people are confident of building executive housing and that people will come and buy them.

“Five or ten years ago, there is not a chance something like this would have been built in Berwick.

“We do need more affordable housing, but we do need people with wealth to come and spend money in the shops and restaurants. This is a good scheme that has been a long time coming.”