‘Political cowardice’ - Save the Fellgate Green Belt campaign slams new vote on Local Plan
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Members of the Save the Fellgate Green Belt campaign have slammed the decision to bring the South Tyneside Local Plan back before the Council just less than six months after it was rejected.
The campaign has long opposed the Local Plan due to concerns over green space in South Tyneside being earmarked for up to 1,200 new homes.
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Hide AdThe Local Plan provides a framework for where new homes, businesses, shops and leisure amenities will be built up in the borough up until 2040 - something that South Tyneside Council bosses have been working on for a number of years.
On September 5, 2024, councillors voted by 26 votes to 23, with one abstention, to reject pushing forward with the plan.
The Save the Fellgate Green Belt’s petition to urge South Tyneside Council to reconsider the proposal to build houses on greenbelt land has been signed by more than 2,600 residents.
Dave Green, a spokesperson for the group, has hit out at the decision to hold another vote on the South Tyneside Local Plan.
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He said: “We knew that it would come back before the Council but we didn’t think it would be in the same format due to it being rejected.
“We think that the Local Plan is seriously flawed but it appears that South Tyneside Council haven’t used the time between September 5 and now to try and put it right.
“Basically they have the audacity to try and railroad it through with scaremongering tactics by saying it will be taken out of their hands.
“We are aware of the possibility that more housing plans could be added to it if the government intervenes but that doesn’t change our views, Fellgate isn’t the place for it.
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Hide Ad“The fact that the meeting has been called at 10am during half-term week seems like it is a calculated way to prevent the younger councillors with children or working councillors from attending - it is political cowardice.
“Fellgate still floods despite South Tyneside Council not acknowledging it as they say it is a low flood risk, but we see drain cleaners around the estate almost as often as the postman.
“They are constantly clearing the drains and it seems like they are trying to hide the truth on this.”
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Hide AdAn ‘Extraordinary Meeting of Borough Council’ will be held on Thursday, February 27, at 10am to consider and seek approval for the formal submission of the publication draft of the South Tyneside Local Plan and its associated submission documentation.
South Tyneside Council told the Shields Gazette last week that the Local Plan is coming back before the Council due to the publishing of a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).
The ‘Regulation 22 publication draft’ that previously came before the Borough Council was not endorsed to be submitted for ‘Examination in Public’.
Under the new NPPF, the standard method for calculating housing need has changed and provides a local housing target for the Borough of a minimum of 623 homes a year – more than double the 309 units planned for in the current draft Local Plan.
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Hide AdHowever, due to transitional arrangements, if the Local Plan were to be submitted for examination before March 12, 2025, it will be able to progress under the old framework.
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This would mean that it is not required to meet the new higher housing need figure.
As a result, the new planning framework and submission deadline are considered to amount to exceptional circumstances to bring the Local Plan back before the Borough Council.
Following the Local Plan meeting on the morning of February 27, South Tyneside Council will then meet again at 6pm that day for the already scheduled budget meeting.
You can keep up to date with the Save the Fellgate Green Belt campaign by visiting: https://savethefellgategreenbelt.co.uk/.
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