COUNTY bosses have defended their decision not to include any major housing developments in Teesdale for the next 16 years, saying the area already has a number of new estates already approved.
Before going out to consultation last year, the County Durham Plan, which sets out all future developments until 2035, had earmarked Grove Works, in Barnard Castle, as an area for housing.
It has since been removed in the latest draft of the plan, which is to be considered by Durham County Council's cabinet today (Wednesday, January 16). The move has been met with shock from Teesdale Action Partnership board chairman David Kinch, who said: “I shall be fighting against Grove Works being removed from the plan because it just leaves the whole of Teesdale homeless for the next 16 years.
“It is a quandary. It doesn’t look right when you put out a plan and there are no new houses built in Teesdale.”
It will mean the only developments allowed will be “windfall” sites – a single home or a few properties built on small plots. The council’s head of planning, Stuart Timmiss, said the new version of the plan had evolved not only to include the views that people had given during the consultation process but also to reflect the latest situation.
He added: “Therefore homes previously included as being allocated for Barnard Castle have now been removed from the plan as they've been granted planning permission. This has seen approval already given for 297 homes in Barnard Castle and a further 315 across the area covered by the Teesdale Action Partnership.
“The Grove Works site has not been included in the current version of the plan as businesses are still active at the location, creating uncertainty over delivery of the site.” The site is occupied by signmaker William Smith. Bosses of the firm had previously said the enterprise would move to Stainton Grove.
Mr Kinch suggested that if the Grove Works housing site had to be removed from the County Durham Plan, a proposal by Banks Group for housing near the recently completed Castle Vale site, on Darlington Road, should have been included instead. He said: “It would have quietened a lot of people down.”
Mr Timmiss responded: “The proposal near to the recent Castle Vale development was deemed unsuitable for housing development due to potential harm to the landscape.”
He said that while he believes the current draft the plan is “reflective of the views of the people of Barnard Castle”, people would be given another chance to have a say after it has been approved by the cabinet.
He added: “We will be carrying out a further round of consultation where we would encourage everyone to get in touch and let us know what they think about the plan, including housing allocation in their area.
Once agreed the County Durham Plan will also be reviewed every five years to ensure that it continues to meet the needs of our communities.”
