Northumberland faces doubled housing targets and reduced local control

Summarised from Hexham Courant's report · Updated 5 Nov, 07:51 · Archive

Northumberland County Council faces doubled housing targets and reduced planning powers for local councillors under new Government policy.

Northumberland County Council faces what Corbridge councillor Nick Oliver describes as a 'triple whammy' of planning changes imposed by Government. The county's housing target has been doubled, local planning committees will be scrapped, and planning powers are to be transferred to regional mayors who could impose developments of over 150 houses without local consultation.

Oliver, the council's cabinet member for finance, argues that the projected population growth in Northumberland does not justify the scale of increase, and that measures designed to address housing shortages in the South East are inappropriate for West Northumberland. He expresses concern that the changes will result in 'irreversible changes to the character of our local area' and loss of local control over development. The County Council is updating its Local Plan and has identified sites for 34,000 new homes over 20 years.

Read the report

• Nick Oliver: We must keep local control over new housingIn this month’s Northumberland County Council column, Corbridge councillor and cabinet member for finance Nick Oliver discusses increased housebuilding targets, changes to planning powers and what they could mean for communities across the Hexham constituency.Hexham Courant · 5 Nov, 05:00

In this story: Nick Oliver · Northumberland County Council · Hexham · Joe Morris · Northumberland

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