Plans to build 43 homes on business park put forward
PLANS have been re-submitted to build a housing development in Backworth following a successful appeal.
The Northumberland Estates property firm has once again submitted plans to construct homes on land at Backworth Business Park, Eccleston Close - this time for 43 properties. Plans for 57 homes were rejected by North Tyneside Council in February last year, before going to a successful appeal in October.
A nearby vegetable processing firm, Keenan Processing Ltd, highlighted concerns that if the previous application for 57 homes was permitted, it would have led to restrictions on the business operations, particularly with early morning noise. Councillors ultimately refused the application.
Concerns were also raised that the prospective homes would impact highway safety, despite a report from officers stating noise and traffic levels were acceptable.
However, subsequent documents in the most recent application revealed Northumberland Estates has now acquired the processing plant and intends to decommission the site, alongside another former commercial building, Prosperous House.
According to the planning inspectorate, the acquisition of the neighbouring business premises, the withdrawal of their objection and planned cessation of the operations at the business premises amounts to “a material change in circumstances”.
The planning inspectorate also stated there was no evidence that the proposed noise mitigation by Northumberland Estates would not have been sufficient in last February’s application. The inspector dismissed the planning committee’s concerns about increased traffic. According to documents supplied to the council by Northumberland Estates, the proposal involves the demolition of the existing Prosperous House office building and the Keenan’s Processing Ltd factory, and construction of 43 homes including 11 affordable homes, with associated road infrastructure, car parking, gardens, and landscaping. A date has not been set for plans to come before the planning committee.