Row over concrete tiles at Northumberland development

This was despite the chairman of the planning committee admitting that Northumberland County Council ‘will probably lose this on appeal’.

Both the original application, approved in March 2017, and the subsequent discharge of conditions relating to four properties on land west of the Mason’s Arms in Stamford, near Rennington, referred to slate roof tiles, however, the bungalows have been built using concrete, slate-look tiles.

The latest bid sought to regularise this and was recommended for approval when it went before the North Northumberland Local Area Council on October 17.

The applicant’s agent, Russell Edwards, told the meeting that an error had been made and the plan was always to use the concrete tiles.

He added that there were a number of other properties in Rennington without slate roofs and that these bungalows were not in a prominent location, for example, visible from the B1340.

However, resident Stephen Baggott claimed that the developer had ‘gone back on his undertaking to the community and council’.

Coun Colin Barker, of Rennington Parish Council, added: “If the conditions are put in there, why can they simply be ignored?”

The committee agreed and all voted to refuse the application.

The chairman, Coun Trevor Thorne, said: “We probably will lose this at appeal, because the concrete is very similar, but we have to be asking applicants to stick to planning conditions.”