Hamlet is green belt

It’s encouraging reading the comments from Iain Fairlamb, Head of planning for Sunderland Council, who actively seeks the input of local people regarding the Core Strategy Consultation.

However, the hamlet of North Hylton, of only 10 households, as yet has still not received the strategy information leaflets – strange but not unusual because we’re pretty much off the map down here, or were.

The proposed site at North Hylton not only sits in the Green Belt but provides and acts as a Wildlife Corridor for migratory birds and a host of wildlife.

The reason I know this is because it has been used historically over five times as a reason to reject any planning applications within the North Hylton area, indeed my attempt to build an animal byre to house rare breeds was met with refusal on July 7, 2017.

The distance between my refused site and the proposed Core Strategy Development is ten yards! Staggering, but hold on it gets worse.

So let’s assume the site, which coincidently was sold as recently as August 11, 2017, is removed from the Green Belt as part of the Strategy Plan, how then can the Wildlife Corridor be sustained?

The very same excuse used to prevent any North Hylton applications in the past.

Will it now be kicked in to the long grass, or perhaps Sunderland Council can persuade the wildlife to ignore the new housing estate and carry on business as normal for the hares, rabbits, deer, partridges, skylarks, lapwings, bats, stoats and flocks of geese dropping in to feed on the way to Washington Wetlands. Good luck with that one. In about 1996 a planning application for a bungalow was refused, the applicant ran a full appeal process, going all the way to the Secretary of State. The appeal was rejected. Guess why, Green Belt wildlife corridor. Guess where, North Hylton.

Erika Wood, North Hylton