PROPOSALS for a new supermarket on the outskirts of Barnard Castle would be against policy if the proposed County Durham Plan was already in place.
Members of the Teesdale Action Partnership (TAP) board were told that while the plan – which outlines development priorities across the county for the next 15 years – says Barney should be served by another major store, it also sets out a policy for protecting town centres from out-of-town retail parks.
Outlining the plan, Thomas Bennett, from Durham County Council's spatial policy team, said the document was being “tweaked” after almost 4,000 comments were received when the first version was published last year.
As well as protecting town centres, it sets out targets for new houses, employment, infrastructure and the environment.
Highlighting other issues specific to Teesdale, Mr Bennett told the meeting a “corridor of interest” highlighting the route of a Barnard Castle relief road from the Abbey Bridge to the A67 Darlington road was still part of the draft plan.
When pressed, he conceded that its designation was the lowest form of protection from other uses on the strip of land.
Mr Bennett said the corridor of interest was “essentially a red flag” if other proposals for the land were drawn up.
Caroline Peacock, from Hamsterley, suggested TAP could urge that the line of the relief road should be upgraded to “safeguarded route” to protect it from any other development during the life of the plan.
Former Teesdale district and Barnard Castle town councillor John Watson said no plan for a relief road could be progressed without consideration of a new Tees bridge.
He said the Abbey Bridge, which had been strengthened with a concrete saddle to cope with the weight of HGVs, was “taking a hammering”.
“A new bridge is incredibly important,” he added.
The issue of rural broadband connectivity was also discussed.
It was pointed out that while the county as a whole may have reached broadband speed targets, this was not the case in rural areas.
Mrs Peacock said: “A considerable number of people in Hamsterley have speeds of less than 2mbs.
“I would like to get the message across that there are really significant problems in rural areas with poor connections to mobile and broadband (networks).”
Richard Laidler, from Hutton Magna, asked why that part of Teesdale was not protected in the draft plan from large wind turbines while other areas of the district were.
Graham Black, another member of the county's spatial team, said it was felt there were enough constraints on turbines in the Hutton Magna area to prevent harm to the landscape.
However, Mr Laidler remained unconvinced.
“I am suspicious as to why that little corner has been left out. Could it be because there is a 34m turbine there already?”
Mrs Peacock agreed and said there was a “strong argument” that the Hutton Magna area should be included in areas protected from turbines.
The lack of land for future housing development in Teesdale was also queried.
The meeting was told that with so many new estates being built in and around Barnard Castle, major new sites in the dale would not be required to help meet the county’s proposed 24,852 new-build homes during the plan's lifetime.
Mr Watson said this meant there was nothing in the plan for bungalows and affordable housing to meet the needs of older people in the dale.
Linda Bird, of North Star Housing, pointed out that if there were to be no new houses, it would mean little opportunity to provide any extra social housing.
Mr Bennett said the policies contained in the plan would allow the council to react to local housing needs.
TAP chairman David Kinch highlighted how a scheme to develop the former railway line from Bishop Auckland to Barnard Castle as a walking route had been removed from the draft plan, despite TAP having already put money into the initiative.
The meeting was told anyone wishing to comment on the draft plan could do so until 4.30pm on Friday, March 8. The draft plan and all comments received will then be reviewed by a government inspector. For more details on the plan, go to www.duham.
gov.uk/future.
