Race against time for South Tyneside Council's Local Plan

I’ve spent my entire life in South Tyneside and seen incredible change over the decades. The post-war bomb sites I played on as a young girl were gradually transformed into family housing estates and recreational spaces. The shipyards and heavy industry from my youth have made way for business parks. Change is inevitable and adapting and evolving is essential for survival.

If I look ahead to 2040, I wonder how the borough will look then, and which new and diverse communities it will be home to. A Local Plan will provide a framework for where new homes, businesses, shops and leisure amenities will be built up until 2040. We as residents can help shape this and I thank everyone who has taken the time to be part of the local plan process over the last six years.

We can influence the type of development we want and help to make sure there is the necessary infrastructure such as schools, health facilities and transport in place to meet our future needs. Last September, the ‘Regulation 22 publication draft’ came before council and was rejected.

So, the borough still doesn’t have a Local Plan in place. At the end of last year, the Government published a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), with mandatory housing targets. Under this new framework, the Government wants us to build at least 623 new homes a year. That’s double the 309 we already planned for. The Government has also made it clear that it is a question of where and how development happens, rather than if it happens. I’m sure, like me, residents want development to happen in the most sustainable locations, underpinned by quality services and facilities.

We need to ensure residents have access to training and skilled jobs, and that means allocating land for employment uses.

We want to enhance our natural assets, cut pollution and protect our recreational spaces. This isn’t just about building houses. It is about us having the policies in place to enable us to refuse inappropriate proposals from developers.

It is about ensuring that those developments that do come forward benefit our communities and meet our needs. If we want more energy-efficient affordable housing like the development we’ve delivered at Hindmarch Drive, Boldon, we need a Local Plan. If we want to protect and retain jobs in the borough, we need a Local Plan. And if we want to enhance nature and protect wildlife, we need a Local Plan. The Government’s new housing targets call for more than 9,000 new homes in South Tyneside over the Plan period. However, if the Plan is submitted for examination before 12 March 2025, it could progress with the lower housing target. In light of these exceptional circumstances, the Plan is being brought back to council later this month for another vote. Local councils and local people know their areas better than anyone else.

That’s why it is so important that we maintain control over development, so that we can create the kind of communities we want now and, in the future.

We need to agree the plan – not continue to risk one imposed on us by people from outside the area. No development is not an option, but we have the chance to make sure it’s development on our terms.

I share the ambition to tackle the housing crisis. As a mother and grandmother, I want my family to be able to stay in South Tyneside, with access to quality, affordable housing. The existing draft Plan has been in the making for several years and has been through two public consultations. In 2022 the council received almost 1,900 responses to the first consultation. That feedback was taken on board and reflected where possible in the next version of the plan.

This included removing some allocated sites that were on open space or Green Belt land. Then in 2024 a further 384 responses were received in the next round of consultation. The decision we face now is quite stark.

If the current plan is not approved and submitted to the Secretary of State before March 12, we will have to go back to the drawing board.

That means we would have to find land for 623 homes a year rather than the current 309. Over the plan period this could mean finding 160 at least hectares of land over and above that already earmarked.

There is very limited scope in the borough for further development on brownfield sites.

So, the extra 5,300 homes needed under a revised plan would undoubtedly end up using further land currently in Green Belt. I urge those residents and members who previously opposed the plan to take this opportunity to reconsider. For further information, search Local Plan – South Tyneside Council