Northumberland County Council is in the final stages of conducting a consultation of its core strategy.
For Hexham the Council is proposing the deletion of a big chunk of land running from the West Road to the Allendale Road. The land would allow developers to build 600 properties.
Independent Councillor Derek Kennedy opposed this mass deletion of the green belt and the building of so many homes in a single area.
Councillor Derek Kennedy attended the Councils Cabinet meeting a few weeks ago and said “My Hexham West ward consists of 1,700 homes this additional 600 would be an increase of 30% in a single area. We have an ancient town that struggles with traffic and this would increase that problem. If Hexham is to be developed it needs to be in a measured way not a massive increase in a single area.”
The Council is holding its last consultation session at the Queens Hall, Hexham on Thursday 7 July from 2:00pm until 7:00pm.
Derek said “I urge people to attend and put their own personal views forward on the Green belt.”
The Council is also proposing allocating land for a new school on the West Road. The current High School is in a poor state and this proposal may give Hexham the school it deserves. The QEHS land would then be available to build houses and in a residential area. This would prevent the need to build in a the green belt. This is the time to put your thoughts forward.
The timetable for the process is:
- The consultation ends on the 27 July.
- The response will then be reviewed until October 2016.
- Full Council will then vote in the Core Strategy in November 2016.
- It will then be submitted in December 2016.
- Examination takes place in Spring 2017.
- Adoption of the strategy is in Summer 2017.