'We got the result in the end' - Campaigner reacts to South Tyneside's Local Plan being rejected again

Members of the Save the Fellgate Green Belt campaign have expressed their delight at councillors voting against the South Tyneside Local Plan for a second time on Thursday, February 27.

A crunch meeting of South Tyneside Council on September 5, 2024, saw councillors vote by 26 votes to 23, with one abstention, to reject pushing forward with the plan to the final stage.

Despite the plan being rejected in September, a group of 12 Labour councillors, including the leader of South Tyneside Council Tracey Dixon and Deputy Leader Jane Carter, called an extraordinary meeting to re-run the vote on the Local Plan.

No changes had been made to the Local Plan since it was rejected last year and at the extraordinary meeting, councillors once again rejected it with 27 votes against and 23 votes in favour.

The 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.

The Save the Fellgate Greenbelt campaign has been petitioning South Tyneside Council throughout the Local Plan consultation period to urge them to reconsider a proposal to build up to 1,200 houses on greenbelt land.

Following the second rejection of the plan, Dave Green, a spokesperson for the group, has praised councillors for decision to once again vote against the Local Plan.

He said: “It is a brilliant result, not only for the Fellgate residents but for residents throughout South Tyneside because it is the right result.

“When it was voted down on September 5, they should have gone back to square one and started afresh with the Local Plan, but they never did.

“We know it will come back around so we want residents to know that we’ve won the battle but not the war - it is crazy that it was brought back before the Council without any changes.

“I am proud of all the councillors who voted against it and they all made valid points about how flawed the current Local Plan is.

“They raised the question of why it was brought back before the Council and highlighted issues such as flooding and traffic.

“I can’t thank all of the councillors enough for looking at the Local Plan realistically and doing the right thing by voting against it.

“I also want to say a big thank you to everyone in Fellgate and those who have taken part in the Save the Fellgate Greenbelt Campaign for staying positive and keeping it going.

“We got the result in the end.”

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The rejection of the Local Plan means that South Tyneside Council must now devise another one under the Government’s new National Planning Policy Framework.

This means that the Council must now plan to build at least 623 new homes in the borough every year - the Local Plan which was proposed sought to allocate land for 309 units annually as per the old framework.

On the back of this, Dave is urging South Tyneside Council to stand up to the Government and highlight that there isn’t space in the borough to build more than 600 homes a year.

He added: “My message would be to check out the infrastructure within the area before they decide to recommend a place to build houses - that’s not just in Fellgate, that needs to happen for all the areas across South Tyneside.

“If you look at where we are in Fellgate, why would you look at putting potentially an extra 2,000 cars on roads that are 20mph.

“If the Government does get involved, I hope South Tyneside Council pushes back on it and highlights that there isn’t the space to build 623 new homes per year.

“It is definitely the right thing that it is going back to square one.”

South Tyneside Council will now prepare a Local Plan for submission before December 2026 - this will involve two rounds of public consultation as a result of this.

The full council meeting was broadcast on South Tyneside Council’s YouTube channel and is still available to view.