Plans approved for controversial flats development on Northumberland school grounds

Ashford Residential’s application for two apartment blocks featuring 18 units, on a grassed area within the grounds of King Edward VI School, was backed by the Castle Morpeth Local Area Council at its meeting on Monday, December 7.

The scheme had been recommended for approval, and Cllr Richard Wearmouth, the ward member for Morpeth Kirkhill, appeared to sum up the committee’s feelings, when he voted ‘reluctantly for’ the granting of planning permission.

“I know there’s a lot of sentiment against it locally, but I can’t see us winning an appeal if we vote against it,” he added.

His colleague, Cllr John Beynon, who represents Morpeth Stobhill, was the only one to vote against, saying: “I know it’s been redesigned, but I have concerns about the design, height and massing.

“My main issue though is the access. I’m not happy with that junction, it’s on a bad bend.”

However, the meeting heard that while the county council’s highways officers were not happy with the access when the proposal was first put forward, a subsequent redesign has addressed their concerns.

Ten flats would be provided in what would be called the north building and eight in the east building, with seven having two bedrooms and 11 being three-bedroomed.

An existing bungalow on the site, which is known as the Old Headmaster’s Lawn, would be demolished to enable access from Cottingwood Lane.

The two blocks would each have four storeys, but the planning officer’s report to councillors explains that the bottom floor, which would be the same level as Cottingwood Lane, would be below the existing ground level of the majority of the site, and would provide undercroft parking.

Above this, the two blocks would appear as two-storey buildings with rooms in their roofs.

A previous bid, lodged in 2012, for a block of 51 retirement flats on the site was rejected by the county council before a planning inspector upheld the refusal at appeal, agreeing that there were road-safety issues and that the block ‘would be detrimental to the character and appearance of the area’.

The planning officer’s report explained that ‘this current application, however, is designed very differently and positioned differently than that previously refused, which impacts on how the proposal would affect the amenity of nearby residents’.

Nonetheless, the bid attracted objections from Morpeth Town Council and 119 residents, with just one letter of support.

A submission from objector Anders Nilsson read out at the meeting summarised the key planning issues as the design, scale and massing; adverse impact on residential impact; and the impact on highways safety and the road network.

“We urge members of the committee to refuse the application to ensure the vital character of Morpeth is maintained, to protect residential amenity and safeguard highways safety,” he concluded.

But the representation from the applicant’s agent, Alastair Willis, of Lichfields, described the planning officer’s report as an ‘accurate and comprehensive assessment’, underlining that the scheme was a ‘complete redesign’ from the refused application, with which Ashford Residential was not involved.

He claimed that the development would be of ‘an appropriate scale and mass’ with ‘quality design which reflects the local vernacular’.

The approval is subject to the completion of a section 106 legal agreement to secure £180,000 for affordable housing and an education contribution of £108,000.

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