How you can help shape the future of Northumberland

The Northumberland Local Plan, which provides a blueprint for the county up to 2036, will form the basis of how planning applications are decided.

The document was submitted to the Government in May last year, before the examination phase, led by a planning inspector, started in October.

During the public hearings – including the separate sessions in February for the section of the plan dealing with minerals, waste and renewable energy – the inspectors have requested various pieces of further information and evidence from the county council, which are now the subject of an eight-week consultation.

The new evidence relates to the chapters of the plan which cover: Delivering the vision for Northumberland; economic development; town centres and central services; housing; and infrastructure and delivery.

The consultation, which can be found at https://tinyurl.com/y9uamxgp, started on Monday, July 13, and runs until 5pm on Monday, September 7.

It is also possible to request a USB stick containing all of the information or paper copies can be posted. Hard copies can be viewed, by prior appointment, at County Hall in Morpeth, under Covid-19-secure guidelines. Planning officers will also be available to explain the consultation by telephone or email.

Coun John Riddle, the county council’s cabinet member for planning, said: “I am pleased to see this consultation getting underway, which marks a further important step in securing a full and up-to-date local plan for the county of Northumberland.”

The consultation will be followed by a second phase of hearings and then another public consultation on any proposed modifications to the local plan, meaning it is not likely to be in place until well into 2021.

Even before the impact of Covid-19, the target date for adoption had already slipped from March this year – set following an intervention by the then Local Government Secretary Sajid Javid in early 2018 – to the end of 2020.

In early March, a spokeswoman said that the council was working towards an adoption date late this year, however, this was based on the phase two hearing sessions taking place this summer.

Those hearings are now provisionally slated to start on Tuesday, October 20, although this is subject to change.

“Now that the examination is underway, the timetable is very much in the hands of the inspector who has been appointed to examine its soundness,” Coun Riddle added.

“Covid-19 is inevitably having an impact on the examination process, but our planning team is working closely with the inspector in the hope that things can be progressed as quickly as possible.”

Meanwhile, the Northumberland National Park Local Plan is due to be considered for adoption by the park authority on Wednesday, July 15.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.