Plans in the pipeline for up to 300 new homes in Amble
Plans are in the pipeline for up to 300 new homes on the outskirts of Amble.
Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey has identified a potential development site at Gloster Hill on the western edge of the town.
Its plans are at a ‘formative’ stage but an application has been made on its behalf for an EIA screening opinion, to ascertain whether an environmental assessment would need to be done in advance of a planning application.
It hopes to submit an outline planning application to Northumberland County Council before the end of the year.
A dozen letters of objection have been submitted by local residents.
Among them, Gloster Park resident Colin Duquemin writes: “The proposed estate would remove over 60 acres of prime farmland from production at a time of food insecurity when government advice to the public is to stock up on essential supplies.
“There has already been significant housebuilding in Amble over the past few years with many further houses in similar estates already under construction. At the same time, few new employment opportunities have emerged locally and the provision of health services in Amble is under increasing strain.
"The location of the proposed estate at some distance from local amenities would also inevitably encourage more car journeys around Amble, which is severely congested already.”
Dr Todd Wauchon adds: “The proposed development of some 300 properties on the new Gloster Hill site has inadequate and dangerous access by road as proposed. The proposed primary access through Longstone Manor via Shoreham Drive is both narrow and windy.”
Fleur Brown of Cromer Gardens says: “The B6345 is used daily by children and families accessing a busy play park, football fields, a secondary school, and two additional schools. It also serves existing homes and an equestrian centre. The road is simply not designed to absorb more traffic without putting residents and road users at risk.”
The site is bounded by existing residential development to the east and south, open countryside to the west, and the Coquet Estuary corridor to the north-west.