 You may have heard that the cabinet has rejected the South Tyneside Local Plan. The draft of this plan proposed to build houses on the Lodge and the horses’ field, but we were were successful in having other Green Belt sites removed, including the Charley Hurley Field and Wellands Lane field. We are asking the council what their next steps will be. New government proposals to revise national planning policy (the NPPF: National Planning Policy Framework) could require the council to plan for 131% more homes than before. Drastically increased housing targets they will have to meet! They will be forced to review Green Belt land, and will likely have to allocate more Green Belt sites for housing, even sites that are of high quality. If the current Local Plan isn’t approved soon, and the NPPF proposals go ahead, the council will need to restart the whole local plan again. It's very likely that previously removed sites like Charley Hurley and Wellands Lane will come back into consideration. This would bring us back to where we were a few years ago, but without a lot less chance of stopping development on Green Belt in Whitburn. Building houses on these sites would have significant negative impacts on the village and environment. The Forum is responding to the government’s consultation and encourages you to do the same. The deadline for responses is 24 September. Also reach out to your councillors and MP with your concerns. You can find all the information below.
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You may have heard about Sunderland AFC’s plans to build solar farms on two fields near the Academy of Light. Although these fields are just outside the Whitburn Neighbourhood Area, the Forum will be responding to the planning application due to its potential impact on nearby Whitburn residents. While we support initiatives aimed at achieving net zero, we are concerned about the significant effects on the Green Belt and the loss of agricultural land. It will also damage the setting and unique rural character of Whitburn, by replacing these fields with industrial and commercial infrastructure, including solar panels, substations, CCTV, and high fencing around the fields. A Whitburn resident has launched a petition: https://www.change.org/p/urge-south-tyneside-to-protect-green-belt-land-from-proposed-solar-farm More information from SAFC: https://safcsolar.co.uk You can respond to the planning application until 16 August through the South Tyneside local planning website. 🏡 In a recent development, Lovell Homes submitted plans for the redevelopment of Whitburn Lodge, proposing 32 houses, including 8 affordable ones. After a public meeting hosted by the Whitburn Neighbourhood Forum, it became evident that the proposal did not align with community needs and lacked sufficient community involvement.
🔍 Forum Findings: Upon detailed review of the planning application, the Forum found discrepancies with the Whitburn Neighbourhood Plan, a document carrying equivalent legal weight to the council's local development plan. Concerns were raised regarding the environmental impact, particularly concerning the discharge of sewage in Whitburn's marine environment. Despite proposed replanting, the redevelopment would result in a 27% loss of natural habitats. 🌐 Missing Information: Crucially, a required landscape and visual assessment was missing from the application, rendering a comprehensive understanding of the proposals' impact on our local landscape impossible. ✉️ Formal Request: The Forum has formally requested the applicant to provide the missing information to ensure a more informed decision-making process. 🤝 Community Involvement: As we navigate these changes, community input is vital. Please do share your thoughts below. More information and the full response is available on our website. Are you from South Tyneside? Have you had enough of the eyesore that is the burnt-down Whitburn Lodge every time you drive, walk or cycle past? Are you concerned about the safety of the building to the public? Are you wondering why the Lodge has been left in this state? We have started a petition calling for South Tyneside Council to take positive action to finally sort out the Whiburn Lodge site. We will present the petition to the council and ask them to use the legal powers they have to improve the site. Please sign and share the petition by following this link. Please make sure you enter your postcode so that the council will accept our petition.  On 7 September, the council cabinet approved the Whitburn Neighbourhood Plan to be formally made local planning policy. That means that the plan will now be used by the council when deciding planning applications in Whitburn. Before this, the council would only consider national policies and their own local development plan. But now Whitburn residents have set their own rules for development that are set around the village's special character and needs. This means that the community has a meaningful say in the future of Whitburn.
More info on the decision made by the council can be found at: https://www.southtyneside.gov.uk/article/14137/Regulation-19-Decision-Statement You can read the Whitburn Neighbourhood Plan here. The Forum held a meeting yesterday evening to discuss the proposals for Whitburn Lodge. The Whitburn Lodge owners had approached the Forum with their plans to build houses on the Lodge and the car park (but not the horses field). We held the meeting with residents to gather views on this proposal. A summary of comments made by residents: - Residents find the current state of the Lodge unacceptable - Support for maintaining access to the coastal park from Mill Lane - Support for affordable housing, as long as it meets the need of Whitburn residents - Questions about whether it would be possible to keep Hope House - Concerns about impacts on wildlife, schools, facilities and traffic - Support for having a community centre - Concerns about loss of access to the stables - Concerns about setting a precedent for development on Green Belt - Support for preserving the gate posts and mining plaques as an entrance to the site If you would like to leave any additional comments, please fill in the form below. The Forum has now sent their comments to the draft Local Plan. You can read the report here.
The comments cover all areas of the Local Plan. It sets out our objections to the way housing need has been calculated, and shows that there are errors in the Sustainability Assessment and the way sites have been selected for development. It also goes into detail on impacts on nature, sewage, traffic, air quality and local facilities. If you have any questions, please do get in touch. Venue: Barnes Institute
Date: Wednesday 17th August 7.30PM The owners of the Whitburn Lodge have approached the Whitburn Forum with a proposal to develop the site. We would like to hear the views of the residents. There will be a short presentation, followed by questions and the opportunity to view the plans We are happy to announce that the referendum result is that 92% of voters were in favour of adopting the neighbourhood plan. That means that we now have a Whitburn neighbourhood Plan and residents will be able to influence future development in the village.
We want to thank everyone who voted yesterday. The turnout was 28.4%. You can read the declaration of the result here. Our work is not done though. We are now going to focus on our objections to the Local Plan. More news to follow on this. |
