This land has been derelict for many years, has two mine shafts and the land has contamination which requires clearing. The land agents have provided figures which show this land is not viable to be redeveloped for employment use. The Council’s own Core Strategy Preferred Options Proposals documentation state there is an excess of Employment Land in the borough.
The outline planning application is for up to 125 homes on this site. It is derelict land and this proposal would bring this land back into use. Building homes next to the Metro station would encourage people to use the public transport system so reduce the impact on the road system of building new homes.
At a time when the Council seeks to build around 3500 homes on green field sites (almost as many as the number of signatures they wish to consider as JUST ONE OBJECTION), thereby destroying this wonderful community asset for ever, we would consider it far more appropriate to build on this derelict land and breathe new life into it.
Check-out the planning application on-line, on the Council’s website (the reference is 10/02518/OUT).
Did you also know that only one brown field site (off Norham Road near Tesco’s in North Shields) has been specifically identified for housing under the Core Strategy Proposals? This land is not planned for development for nearly another ten years, despite much of it standing empty for the last 10-20 years.
Meanwhile, the green fields next to Holystone by-pass are identified by your Council for destruction in the first phase of development. Destroying the fields means destroying the wildlife corridor which may eventually lead to the isolation of the Rising Sun Country Park – once gone, it can never be returned!!
Holystone Action Group is supporting brown field developments but strongly opposes the green field developments. For any of you new to this, green fields are basically green open spaces or farmland, brown fields are basically land that has been previously developed either as housing or for industrial use.
