Battle for green space
Jan 28 2008 by Jule Wilson, The Journal
A £5m SUPERMARKET development proposed for a seaside town may be thwarted by an attempt to get the proposed site protected as open space.
A group of local residents has applied to Northumberland County Council to effectively block an application by the Northumberland Estates to build a supermarket, 49 homes and an access road on land at The Braid, in Amble.
The Estates’ planning proposal, for a 30,000sqft supermarket, is currently subject to public consultation and is expected to come before Alnwick District Council’s development control committee for a decision in February or March.
But Northumberland County Council has confirmed that a second application has now been made to register the site as a town or village green. With this status it would be protected from such development.
A spokesman for the residents’ group responsible for the application said: “Amble only has The Braid in terms of open space and we are up in arms about the whole idea of there being a supermarket there.” He added that in principle there was no objection to a new supermarket being created in Amble, but felt the road proposed for the land at The Braid would destroy the tranquility of the area and make further planning in the fishing town more likely.
He added: “We would prefer the supermarket to be on the edge of town where roads and infrastructure already exist.
“Amble is on record as being deficient in parks and gardens.
“An access road would totally destroy the only peaceful green space in Amble where we get away from traffic pollution and din.”
The application to register the site as a town green is currently in the hands of the county council’s legal department, which confirmed it would be advertised in the next week.
But Colin Barnes, director of planning at the Northumberland Estates, the Duke of Northumberland’s business arm, said he was optimistic planning permission would still be granted for the store.
He said: “We aren’t deterred by this at all.
“It’s not an uncommon occurrence for people to object to planning applications in this way and we are optimistic because we have had so much public support.
“Under our proposals, the vast majority of The Braid would remain open space as part of the development site is derelict building.”
The land at The Braid is owned in part by Northumberland Estates, Northumberland County Council and Alnwick District Council, and the matter of whether it should be protected is likely to become subject of a public inquiry.
A spokesman for the county council said this was expected to take place in the autumn.
