Yet more homes on cards for 'over-stretched' Northumberland village

The application is for a site at the northern end of Longframlington, to the south of Lightpipe Farm and bordered by the A697 and the C106 Alnwick Fords road.

The scheme is recommended for approval at Thursday’s meeting of the North Northumberland Local Area Council.

It has sparked objections from 15 residents as well as the parish council, but the planning officer says that it is acceptable.

Highways safety is one of the main concerns and, as part of the proposals, the applicant would have to realign the A697/C106 junction, create a two-metre-wide footway along the C106 from the access to the A697 and provide bus stops on the A697.

The report to councillors says: ‘The social benefits associated with this would overcome the environmental impact of the development and deliver a substantial infrastructure for the village which is in addition to a full suite of contributions agreed by the applicant.’

If approved, the developer would also have to provide six affordable homes on site and make contributions of £72,000 for education, due to KEVI in Morpeth being at capacity, and £30,300 to support GP practices.

A number of other schemes have been approved/built in Longframlington in recent years.

In November 2014, Alnwick-based house-builder Cussins was given the green light for 37 new homes on land north of Rimside View.

This followed a development by Two Castles Housing Association, working with Partner Construction, of 25 energy-efficient homes for rent to local people, at Healeycote View on Rothbury Road.

A scheme for 10 detached properties to the north of the village, on land opposite the cemetery, was lodged in May 2015 and then approved, despite objections, by a council planning committee in December that year.

Then, in 2016, Cussins submitted a bid for another 26 homes, on land north of Cairn View, for the second phase of its Fenwick Park development, taking the total number of properties to 63.

In March last year, the planning committee approved nine detached dwellings at North End Farm, before refusing Miller Homes’ proposal for 39 homes on land next to West Lane Caravan Park in April.

A scaled-down application for 29 properties was then turned down by the North Northumberland Local Area Council in August, but the original 39-house scheme was approved on appeal last October.

Longframlington Parish Council’s objection to the latest application says: ‘The number of houses in the village has increased dramatically over the last four to five years with over 180 new houses receiving planning permission, which represents an increase of over 25 per cent.

‘The village infrastructure/roads and services are all over-stretched.

‘Local businesses are not seeing any economic benefit as most new residents work and shop outside the village and those that do wish to use the shops find that the increased volumes of traffic are causing parking problems in the village centre preventing them from shopping locally.’

Ben O'Connell, Local Democracy Reporting Service