Objections still ongoing over proposed development at Braid Hill
**UPDATE: The plans were passed at the council meeting on 24 October**
An application for 98 dwellings including an assisted living block is to be considered at a Northumberland County Council meeting on 24 October, with planners recommending approval.
The application by Northumberland Estates would see 40 houses and 58 apartments on land at Braid Hill, north of the Gut. The plans include a supported living block, and a mix of two and three bedroomed houses. Access would be via a road from Riverside Park.
A previous application by Northumberland Estates was withdrawn in 2022 after planners recommended refusal. However in November 2023, a revised application was submitted. Now, planners are recommending it be approved.
Plans are to raise the surface level of the development as it is in a flood zone. Access would come from Riverside Park.
In the application, Northumberland Estates’ development planner Guy Munden said: “Supported living promotes independence by enabling people to live in their own homes. Despite widespread support for the original planning application, some residents expressed concerns about the loss of open space at the Braid. In the new application, we have addressed those concerns in full, providing alternative access through the existing residential estate.”
One objector has written to Amble Town Council asking for them to recommend refusal at the meeting.
Local resident Paul Dancer cited his and others’ objections with the application being situated on a flood plain, fears over the proposed access into and through Riverside Park, concerns with sewage management, drainage and surface water, and the visual impact on a conservation area.
He said “The current application from November 2023 was met with widespread consultee and local objections. But despite all the objections the application has been allowed to run on and on. Many of the plans in this application are exactly the same as those which were recommended for refusal in 2022.”
He added “Despite 55 objections and comments from consultees not in support, NCC are minded to recommend approval at the North Area committee meeting in Alnwick on 24th October.
“We think this is a total disregard of the Local Plan policies and will basically create a precedent allowing any development anywhere in the County.”
Related article:
You can see the proposals on the County council’s planning website: ref 23/04183/FUL
When structural problems arise, planners would have retired or lost their seats to like minded and Rate payers would be targeted, I have thought of a lovely name for it: The Swamp Estate. For sure the brothers wont mind.