Range of north Northumberland plans to be decided

A view of Craster with the buildings in question behind the boats.

At this afternoon’s meeting of the county council’s North Northumberland Local Area Council, members are recommended to approve a bid for a housing development on land south-west of St Cuthbert’s Close, off Main Street, in North Sunderland.

The scheme, which was first unveiled to the parish council in November 2016 before the application was submitted in May, has sparked 24 objections from residents while the parish council has highlighted a number of concerns which would prevent it from supporting the bid.

But while planning officers recommend granting planning permission, there are a number of conditions attached over and above the requirement to provide 15 per cent of affordable housing on site (three homes).

A section 106 agreement to be signed would also mean that all the dwellings must be used as principal residences and the developer would have to provide a contribution towards education of £35,200 as well as £600 per property for ‘the management of protected areas’.

• A bid for a residential park in Whittingham featuring 12 lodges could be rejected by councillors later today.

The scheme, for land west of Treetops, Callaly Road, is recommended for refusal at this afternoon’s local area council meeting in Alnwick.

The planning officer’s report says that the scheme should be refused because ‘the application presents development that would not reflect the local character or distinctiveness of Whittingham and its conservation area, presenting an incongruous type of development that would have an adverse impact on the setting of a historic rural village by virtue of the proposed type and tenure of the development’.

The applicants, Mr and Mrs Young, originally sought to build five new homes on the site, with permission granted in November 2013. Works commenced, but the couple were then inspired by a visit to a residential lodge/bungalow park in Derbyshire.

• Plans to convert buildings, on land south-east of Lifeboat House, Haven Hill, which were formerly used as a garage/storage, office and small washroom, into two new homes are set to get the green light.

Craster Parish Council objected to the plans, not least due to the fact that it does not include adequate car parking and concerns over the access arrangements.

However, the AONB Partnership supports the scheme, as it ‘on the whole, does maintain the character and form of the original building’.

• Outline permission for the development of five homes, including access road, gardens and car parking, on land north of Meadowlands, off the Longhoughton Road in Lesbury, is set to be granted. The scheme has sparked an objection from the parish council as well as two residents.

• Planning officers say a holiday development in Whitton should be turned down, despite it being supported by the parish council. A decision on the bid to demolish redundant agricultural sheds and build five holiday cottages, on land south-west of Carterside, is expected at today’s meeting.

• A bid to build a timber-frame function room on land south of the sports club at Breamish Valley Cottages, in Branton, looks set to be approved. Ingram Parish Council and 10 residents have objected to the scheme, which means it will go before councillors for a decision later today.

• An application for listed building consent to make a series of alterations to Felton Park Lodge is set to get the green light. The local area council will decide as the parish council objected, saying ‘the owner has made no attempt to compete the recommended remedial works’.