Duke opposes new homes in Amble
Dec 13 2007 by Brian Daniel, The Journal
THE Duke of Northumberland is leading a fight against plans for 250 homes in a seaside town, fearing it will thwart his own future building plans.
Persimmon Homes is seeking to build homes at Amble, in Alnwick district.
However, the Duke’s Northumberland Estates has put in an objection to the scheme, fearing that allowing the building of 250 homes will effectively bar itself and other developers from building houses in Amble in the future.
This is because Alnwick District Council is seeking to limit the number of new homes being built in the town to 30 a year for the period 2011-16 and 17 per year from 2016-21. Therefore the 250 proposed would be more than the total allowed for Amble for the period 2011-21.
Given the cap on house building, the council is seeking to give greater priority to town centre developments or re-use of brownfield sites. The Duke’s estates office believes its own scheme should be given the green light over Persimmon’s.
Colin Barnes, its director of planning, said last night: “The issue at the moment is that there are a number of other alternative sites available within Amble town centre which should come forward in advance of the Persimmon site.
“There is a difficulty generally in the district with the number of houses that have been allocated for development in the next 15 years or so. There is a limited number so they should go ideally to the town centre sites first.
“We have got one site which is linked to the supermarket application which is due to go into the council in the near future. It should be given greater priority.”
Persimmon’s outline application for family homes and up to 91 affordable homes was submitted to the council in June. The 8.8 hectares of greenfield farm land site, west of the A1068 and south of Marks Bridge, was then removed from the authority’s local development for housing in September, having featured in the document for over 10 years.
The company has appealed against the council’s non-determination of its application, sparking a public inquiry which is to take place on January 29.
The council’s development control committee will next Tuesday decide what the authority’s decision would have been and what its stance will be at the inquiry, with officers recommending refusal. This is in keeping with its guidance which is in line with the North East Assembly’s Regional Spatial Strategy because the scheme offers less than 35% affordable housing.
Persimmon has however hit out at the council over its handling of the application, insisting it has strong support in the town for its development and that homes would be affordable.
Peter Jordan, Persimmon’s regional projects director, said: “Persimmon Homes are committed to spearheading the regeneration of Amble with a housing scheme which exemplifies the kind of affordable and family focused properties the town needs.
“It is disappointing that with housing delivery top of the Government’s agenda, and with this scheme providing up to 91 affordable homes for local people, the council’s attitude should be so negative.”
Glenys Hill, who lives at Marks Bridge, has objected to the scheme, claiming Amble’s infrastructure will struggle to cope. She said: “We do not feel that Amble is capable of supporting as many new houses as they are planning to build.”
But Amble Development Trust has welcomed the proposed development.
Director David Milburn said: “There is a demand for new housing in Amble, it is encouraging that developers do want to come to the town and service that demand.”
