Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Bridgett, Clark, Hardy, Thorne, and Pattison. 

Minutes of the meeting of the North Northumberland Local Area Committee held on Thursday, 19 October 2023 as circulated, to be confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.?? 

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the North Northumberland Local Area Committee held on Thursday 19 October 2023, as circulated, were confirmed as a true record, and were signed by the Chair.

To request the committee to decide the planning applications attached to this report using the powers delegated to it. 

Please note that printed letters of objection/support are no longer circulated with the agenda but are available on the Council’s website at  http://www.northumberland.gov.uk/Planning.aspx

The report requested the Committee to decide the planning applications attached to the report using the powers delegated to it. Members were reminded of the principles which should govern their consideration of the applications, the procedure for handling representations, the requirement of conditions and the need for justifiable reasons for the granting of permission or refusal of planning applications.?? 

RESOLVED that this was noted.

Retrospective Change of Use of White Cottage to Services Accommodation in Association with the Joiners Arms

White Cottage, The Inn Road, Newton-by-the-Sea, Northumberland, NE66 3EA

Retrospective Change of Use of White Cottage to Serviced Accommodation in Association with the Joiners Arms White Cottage, The Inn Road, Newton-by-the-Sea, Northumberland, NE66 3EA

J Sharp – Senior Planning Officer, introduced the application with the aid of a presentation and gave the committee the following updates:

·       An additional representation had been submitted from the Parish Council regarding the parking conditions.

·       Highways had confirmed that with a hotel, there should be one parking space per room plus one parking space per three members of staff. 

P Goodfellow spoke in objection to the application and gave the committee members the following information:

·       The original plans submitted for the Shepherd Hut in the rear garden of White Cottage had no mention of development of the cottage to provide additional accommodation.

·       The applicant had operated the premises for over two years as a commercial venue without planning or building regulations.

·       Concern regarding traffic congestion due to cars dropping off customers for the Joiners Arms.

·       There was a sign on the entrance to the driveway which stipulated “No Parking 24 Hour Access Required”.

·       Parking spaces had been removed to provide extensive seating areas and space for hot tubs.

·       The only parking provision that was available to customers of the applicant business was the free NCC carpark.

·       In the revised plans, the applicant made no mention of alteration to the drainage/sewerage for the site because of extra bathrooms and toilets in White Cottage and the instillation of two hot tubs.

·       The applicant had altered Newton Hall, Newton Hall Caravan Site, The Joiners Arms and The Joiners Den without suitable permission then applied for retrospective planning.

Councillor W Pattison had registered to speak as the Local Member and submitted a speech to be read out by an officer at the meeting, in accordance with the Public Speaking Protocol. The committee were given the following information:??? 

·       Councillor Pattison objected to the application and noted that it did not differ from the application submitted under 20/04267/FUL.

·       The application was overdevelopment in a crowded area of the village.

·       There was no adequate parking provision for the property.

·       The applicant had not taken sustainability of the village into account.

·       Light pollution and the overdevelopment of a small village in the AONB was a concern.

J Roper spoke on behalf of Newton-by-the-Sea Parish Council and gave the committee the following information:

·       The Parish Council asked that the committee judged the application by The Apartment Group as a whole and not as a stand-alone application.

·       The large expansion of The Joiners Arms in 2011 included; 5 B&B rooms added above the pub, and extension to the front beer, a new rear beer garden, and the building footprint was increased by 30%.

·       Including White Cottage, The Apartment Group had bought six of the residential properties in High Newton equating to 18% of the stock.

·       The change of use from dwelling house to serviced holiday accommodation was not supported.

·       The further expansion of the Joiners Arms was considered overdevelopment in the rural village  ...  view the full minutes text for item 53.

For Members’ information to report the progress of planning appeals.? This is a monthly report and relates to appeals throughout all 5 Local Area Committee Planning Committee areas and covers appeals of Strategic Planning Committee. 

RESOLVED that this was noted.

For Members’ information to report the agreement monitoring and collection of s106 contributions in the planning process. This is a monthly report and relates to agreements throughout Northumberland during the previous 2 months.

RESOLVED that this was noted.

The next meeting of the North Northumberland Local Area Planning Committee is scheduled for Thursday, 21 December 2023.

The next meeting of the North Northumberland Local Area Planning Committee was scheduled for Thursday, 21 December 2023.

RESOLVED that this was noted.