Rejection for hotel's bids for homes

Members of Northumberland County Council’s planning committee rejected one application for 10 executive homes on land east of Linden Cottages and another for three homes on the site of Dormy House, which would have been demolished.

The schemes had been recommended for refusal, primarily due to them being in the open countryside, and the councillors, who had been on a site visit the day before, eventually agreed unanimously to turn them down.

In the case of the plans for the 10 homes, which the meeting heard would be six-bedroom, six-bathroom, two-and-a-half-storey properties with double garages, a second reason for refusal was that it would be unacceptable ‘in terms of its impact on the character and visual amenity of the area’.

There was a query over why the nearby Linden Acres estate, of a similar nature, although made up of smaller properties, had been given permission.

Members were told that the development had been granted back in 1992 and only because it was used as an enabling development to expand the hotel by creating the spa and health club.

Rebecca Dennis, acting for the applicant Macdonald Hotels, mentioned that these new schemes were going to act as enabling developments for further improvements at the hotel.

However, the application had made no reference to this and planning officers advised disregarding this as it was inappropriate to introduce a new argument at the committee stage.