A controversial decision to allow a 215-home development in Wallsend has been upheld.
On January 17, North Tyneside Council green-lit plans to construct 215 Bellway Homes on land in Centurion Park, Wallsend. However, the Wallsend Boys Club urged the planning committee to reconsider its decision claiming the council’s strategy for green space and playing pitches is out of date.
A petition objecting to the proposed Bellway homes has amassed, at the time of writing, 1,590 signatures. The club, represented by chairman Steve Dale and Maria Ferguson, also reiterated concerns raised in the previous planning meeting.
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In response to the claims of out-of-date strategies, senior planning officer, Julie Dawson said: “Obviously we had regard to that when making our decisions and we set out our reasoning behind that when material considerations are relevant. We feel we demonstrated thoroughly an assessment for open space, having regard to those documents but having regards to when changes were made to those documents since they were adopted."
Objectors, including Wallsend Boys Club, also raised the historically thorny issue of traffic concerns.
Steve Dale, chairman of Wallsend Boys Club, said: “We are asked to believe these 215 homes will only generate 109 traffic movements, if those streets are anything like the ones we all inhabit there will probably be another 109 Amazon and other courier delivery traffic movements, never mind new residents.
“If our children were asked to believe that those maths added up, we would look to change their teacher or school.”
Coun John O’Shea sided with the objectors and felt “instinctively” there would be a significantly increased amount of traffic in the area.
However, council officers defended their position maintaining the area would not be unduly affected by traffic problems. Highway officers stated that although many proposed houses may be three- or four-bedroom homes, there is not a straightforward correlation between the size of the homes and car ownership.
Officers claimed that the development could include retired occupants, households with no car, or a portion of people who work from home, reducing the number of car journeys at peak times.
Despite representations made by objectors, North Tyneside Council’s planning committee voted by a six to four majority to green-light the Bellway project.
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