There was a rare display of unity at Northumberland County Hall when councillors of all parties praised the cross-party working that led to the creation of the Northumberland local plan.
It has taken five years, but the planning blue print for the entire county has finally been adopted following an extraordinary meeting of Northumberland County Council on Wednesday (March 30).
However, the united front did not last long, with both Labour and the Conservatives rowing over the Tory's decision to begin a new planning document in 2017, throwing out the almost-complete Core Strategy developed by the previous Labour administration.
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The long-awaited local plan sets out a planning blueprint for Northumberland, doing away with the complex system of outdated plans based off the county's former district councils.
It sets out a range of development proposals as well as planning policies, which will be used to assess applications and guide the location of future development in the county up to 2036, giving councillors more powers to block controversial planning applications that do not fit with the council's vision for the future.
At the meeting, councillors were told how officers had battled with the Government to ensure ambitious housing targets as well as an increase in employment land when compared with historical trends. When the plan was first complied, a third of people living in Northumberland travelled outside of the county for work.
Also included in the plan was a provision for at least 17,700 new homes between 2016 and 2036, while parishes where 20% or more of household spaces are identified as being holiday homes will have a requirement for new homes to be bought by permanent residents.
The plan was introduced by council leader Glen Sanderson, who said: "This is a testament to the hard work by officers and all all-party group of councillors who have worked hard on this.
"This is a great document, full of clarity, and I commend it."
Head of planning Rob Murfin added: "Having a modern, up to date local plan is the very basis of the planning system.
"The plan balances the need for growth and protecting what makes Northumberland a special place."
Labour leader Scott Dickinson said the cross-party work that had gone into the plan was an example the rest of the council should follow.
He said: "I welcome this and your work has been tremendous. It shows exactly what cross-party work can achieve when it is done properly. This is one of the most open departments of the council.
"I'm really pleased we have a good proportion - it was fought for - of affordable housing.
"What we have to do is not let the plan bend. We have to keep strong and make sure we don't have developers offering us alternatives."
Referencing earlier claims by the Conservatives, Coun Dickinson added; "I'm not going to go into the details of it being ready in eight weeks back in 2017!
"It's a plan that can deliver on employment and on housing that we all want to see in Northumberland. We haven't got people sitting and arguing. It's a lesson to be learnt. I fully support the plan."
Former council leader Peter Jackson then hit out at the previous administration's Core Strategy.
He said; "What a hard decision it was for this council to pivot from one plan to the other. The previous plan would have had a ridiculously detrimental effect on the county. There wasn't any ambition in that plan.
"We have a county that should have the confidence and the ability to have a really successful local economy. Let's build Northumberland into the great place we know it can be."
Responding, Labour member Coun Lynne Grimshaw said: "May I just remind the former leader, when he slated the last plan it was going to take three months to adopt. It has taken five years.
"In that time, there's more housing been developed than was in that strategy. We're trying to move forward together and work in harmony."
Despite the disagreements, councillors unanimously agreed to adopt the plan.
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