Whitegates West Appeal
Enviro Property Partners Ltd have appealed against NCC's decision to reject the application to build 33 houses on the land to the west of Whitegates.
The appeal is being heard by the Planning Inspectorate under the written representations procedure.
The Planning Inspector will have all comments made at the application stage, but you can also comment about the appeal.
Comments must be received by April 5th
Tell the Planning Inspector what you think - Make comments online, by email or by post.
Stages and Dates
• NCC Questionnaire - March 8th
• NCC submit an administrative questionnaire to the Planning Inspectorate.
• Statements of Case - April 5th
• Both parties give details of their case.
• Comments on Statement of Case - April 19th
• Both parties can comment on the Statements of Case - no new evidence is allowed at this stage.
• Decision - date to be confirmed but likely to be June at the earliest
Reasons for Refusal and Grounds of Appeal
Schedule of Reasons for Refusal See the full decision document here.
1. The proposed development would be located within the Green Belt. No special circumstances have been demonstrated and it would therefore be inappropriate development, which would be harmful in terms of its impact on the openness of the Green Belt, as defined by Joint Structure Plan Policy S5 and Northumberland Local Plan Pre-Submission Core Strategy (October 2015) which are supported by Morpeth District Local Plan Policies C1 and UGC1.
2. The proposed housing development would represent non-essential and unjustified development in the open countryside outside of the defined settlement boundary. This is contrary to the National Planning Policy Framework and Policies C1, H15 and H16 of the Castle Morpeth District Local Plan.
Extracts from the Appeal Appellant`s Case See the full document - Grounds of Appeal, Appendix 1 (Pre-application response from LPA), Appendix 2 (Proposals Map, Castle Morpeth Local Plan)
LPA = Local Planning Authority, CS = Core Strategy, GB = Green Belt, NPPF = National Planning Policy Framework, LP = Local Plan
8. It is considered premature to assess sites as being within the GB when the LP, part of the Development Plan, clearly shows the site being excluded from the current GB boundary.
It is also considered short sited [sic] of the LPA to place so much weight on the comments of one Inspector considering one wind farm scheme, especially as the LPA, until recently, placed very little weight on Saved Policy S5 and considered GB sites as they appeared in the current, LP Proposals Map.
9. The LPA has stated that the emerging CS ought to be now afforded some weight because it is at an advanced stage. However, the Applicant would comment as follows:
1. The ‘Pre Submission Draft’ has been published, but it has not yet been finalised for submission, therefore its final form may well change further;
2. The CS has not yet been scrutinised by an independent Inspector;
3. The application site lies on the edge of the current built-up area for Longhorsley. Again, the extent of the GB may change to allow some sustainable development;
4. There are various objections to the extent of the new GB boundary because Morpeth is a key settlement for growth and the boundary has been drawn tightly around the existing built-up area. The GB boundary also extends well beyond Morpeth, in all directions, severely restricting growth in other sustainable settlements;
5. Whilst the principle of the new GB is to protect the historic town of Morpeth, there is no need for it to extend so far beyond the main built-up area. This has a knock-on-effect in heavily constraining development in the outlying rural areas in an area of high demand for new housing. As a result, it is considered that the extent of the Green Belt is contrary to advice in the NPPF.
10. It is considered that the LPA are being premature in assessing sites under the Green Belt policy, that are not designated as such in an adopted LP. The LPA, until very recently, were very supportive of development on the Appeal Site. It is considered that the site could still come forward for development and the LPA could revise their current draft of the Core Strategy to emit the Appeal Site from the Green Belt.
Added March 18th: For more information about the issues raised in points 9 and 10, see Weight Given to the Core Strategy Policies
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To comment
Comments should either say:
"I support the appeal proposals" and explain why; or
"I am against the appeal proposals" and explain whether it is for the same reasons as given by the NCC or, if not, explain your own reasons.
The Inspector can only take into account information and evidence that is relevant to the appeal.
This could cover a wide range of issues, but those that apply are usually set out in the NCC’s Schedule of Reasons for Refusal.
Comments must received by April 5th
To comment online. go to Case Summary APP/P2935/W/16/3145262 on the Planning Inspectorate's website. Link to Case Summary
Click on the "Make representation" link at the top of the page.
On the Your Details page, select "Interested Party / Person"
To comment by post or email, send your comments to
Mr Alan Bailey, Case Officer, The Planning Inspectorate,
Temple Quay House, 2 The Square, Temple Quay, Bristol BS1 6PN
or email teamp7@pins.gsi.gov.uk
(This Case Office is also working on the Church View West Appeal)
When you send comments you should include
your name and address,
the Planning Inspectorate appeal reference number - APP/P2935/W/16/3145262
and the address of the appeal site - Land west of Whitegates, Longhorsley, Northumberland NE65 8UJ
If you send your comments in a letter, unless your handwriting is very clear, have your comments typed.
Please use black ink and send 3 copies. Note that you will not get an acknowledgement of receipt.
Please note that the Planning Inspectorate's website does not publish individual appeal representations.
The only document that will be published is the Inspector’s decision notice.
Public Access Documents
All the relevant documents will be posted on NCC's Public Access system - reference 15/03374/OUT
The key documents from Public Access are also available as PDFs below.
Appeal Appellant`s Case.pdf - Details the Grounds for the Appeal
Appendix 1.pdf - Appendix 1 of the Appeal Appellant's Case - NCC's Pre-Application Response
Appendix 2 p16.pdf - page 16 of Appendix 2 of the Appeal Appellant's Case - Castle Morpeth's Longhorsley Settlement Boundary
Decision Notice 15-03374-OUT.pdf
Planning Statement.pdf - Original Planning Application
Whitegates West Case Officer's Report.pdf - Case Officer's Application Report