Campaigners lose Newcastle Green belt battle

Campaigners have been unsuccessful in getting Newcastle Council’s plans to build on green belt land substantially modified or overturned.

The Newcastle Chronicle summarised the Government inpsector’s interim findings and the reaction of campaigners in a news story published on November 18th, 2014.

“The inspector supported homes on greenfield sites at Callerton (3,000 homes), Newbiggin Hall (300), Kingston Park and Kenton Bank Foot (800), Newcastle Great Park (1,480), Dinnington (250), Throckley (550), Hazlerigg and Wide Open (500), all in Newcastle.”

“Environmental activists yesterday spoke of their disappointment that their campaigning led to only minimal changes to the planning document.”

The North West Green Belt campaigners complain that three years of hard work has just gone down the drain.

The inspector’s interim findings (also One Core Strategy examination news page).

What you might have missed in the Newcastle green belt battle

Newcastle Evening Chronicle reporter Adrian Pearson has summed up the first half of the UK Government’s Newcastle and Gateshead One Core Strategy inquiry taking place in Gateshead (June 13th 2014 issue).  Planning inspector Martin Pike spent the first two weeks of a month-long hearing looking at issues arising from the plan around transport, housing and shopping.  Some 30,000 new houses are proposed, with about 8,000 to be built on green belt.

“The civic centre meeting room is packed out with officials from the two councils, legal experts from the North East’s biggest developers and concerned residents fighting plans for green belt expansion. All have submitted paper work detailing thousands of planning points.”  http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/what-you-might-missed-newcastle-7264882

The second half of the inquiry or ‘examination hearing’ started on June 24th and will look at individual sites.  Documents for each area are being posted on the Gateshead examination site: http://onecorestrategyng-consult.limehouse.co.uk/portal

NW Green Belt: The Newcastle West Green Belt Protection Campaign are making regular posts from their perspective here: http://www.nwgreenbelt.org.uk/  They have a useful timetable here: http://www.nwgreenbelt.org.uk/wordpress/2014/03/examination-timetable/

See also Cities for People http://www.cities4people.org.uk/ “bringing together a network of campaign groups to protect the green spaces and natural environments of Newcastle, Gateshead and our neighbours.”