Attempt to save homes for villagers
Mar 10 2008 by Ben Guy, The Journal
A LONG-AWAITED plan to build 14 affordable homes in a Northumberland village will be discussed at a special council meeting next week.
Milecastle Housing was granted permission for the homes at Bardon Mill by Tynedale District Council Development Control Committee last November.
But at a meeting of the same committee last month it emerged that complex legal problems had emerged over the need for the homes to be made available to local people in perpetuity.
Because of the delay, the development risks missing vital funding and councillors were asked to delegate the decision to the director of planning to speed up the process, but instead opted for the special meeting.
Coun Paul Macdonald said: “There was a recommendation for the decision to be delegated, but the committee thought it should come back for a special meeting.
”As an authority we need to be confident in the decisions we are making. We can’t rubber stamp something just because of who the applicant is. We need to be absolutely squeaky clean – we need to jump through the hoops even more stringently than if it was a private development.” Other committee members have privately voiced anger at the delay between Milecastle Housing and Tynedale Council.
The homes would be on a greenfield site, which can be developed only if the properties are classed as affordable. The £1.5m development would be funded by the council, the housing association and the National Affordable Housing Programme.
Coun Macdonald said: “I do have concerns that we had the money to get this in place and it didn’t happen. I am not prepared to say where the blame should lie, but as an authority Tynedale along with its partners needs to look at how it does its business.
“If something comes in in November, the time plan should be made so that a scheme’s anomalies can be ironed out so that we can make a decision in time.”
A spokeswoman for Tynedale and Milecastle said a report to the committee recommended the planning director be authorised to grant conditional consent.
The committee meets on Tuesday at 7pm in the council chamber.
