Agenda item

Construction of a two platform railway station including: pedestrian lifts, stepped and ramped pedestrian access, upgrade of existing junction to provide signalised access to station; modifications to highways including pedestrian footways; provision of parking for buses, cars, electric vehicles, motorcycles, cycles, and taxis; works to public rights of way; construction of a pedestrian and cycle bridge, facilities ancillary to the station including, lighting, soft and hard landscaping, surface and subsurface drainage, utilities and other services, boundary treatment and other associated works.

Land South of Heather Lea, Errington Street, Bebside, Northumberland

Construction of a two platform railway station including: pedestrian lifts, stepped and ramped pedestrian access, upgrade of existing junction to provide signalised access to station; modifications to highways including pedestrian footways; provision of parking for buses, cars, electric vehicles, motorcycles, cycles, and taxis; works to public rights of way  ; construction of a pedestrian and cycle bridge, facilities ancillary to the station including, lighting, soft and hard landscaping, surface and subsurface drainage, utilities and other services, boundary treatment and other associated works.

Land South of Heather Lea, Errington Street, Bebside, Northumberland

G Halliday, Consultant Planner provided a comprehensive introduction to the application with the aid of a power point presentation outlining the key issues for consideration.  Updates were provided as follows:-

·       Following publication of the agenda Building Conservation had advised that they were in support of the application. 

·       The wording at the beginning of condition 10 should be changed to read:

“Unless otherwise approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority development shall take place in full accordance with the mitigation measures detailed in the report …….”

A Heally, Planning Consultant on behalf of the applicant addressed the Committee speaking in support of the application.  Her comments included the following:-

·       The station was one of six new stations proposed as part of plans for the reintroduction of passenger services between Newcastle and Ashington with an anticipated half hourly service.

·       The application had been the subject of extensive consultations with officers and other stakeholders both before and after the planning submission.

·       A significant public consultation had also taken place with 215 representations specifically supporting the proposals at Bebside.

·       A foot and cycle bridge was proposed to provide connectivity from the station to the existing public right of way network and residential properties to the east which would minimise conflict for pedestrians and cyclists with other vehicles by avoiding the need to cross Bebside roundabout.

·       The applicant recognised the concerns raised by residents related to highways capacity and had undertaken an extended period of engagement with the local highways authority to ensure concerns were mitigated and additional modelling being undertaken during the determination of the application.  Highways Officers had considered the proposed highways improvements appropriate and were content to recommend approval subject to conditions as outlined in the report.

·       The station and wider scheme would deliver the transport infrastructure required to attract inward investment into Blyth and South East Northumberland and would support Blyth’s role as a key employment site.

·       Policies within both the adopted Blyth Valley Local Plan and emerging Northumberland Local Plan identified Bebside as a safeguarded location for a future railway station.

·       There were no objections to the application from statutory consultees and when balancing objections against the significant economic, social and environmental benefits of the scheme, the scheme should be approved.

In response to questions from Members of the Committee the following information was provided:-

·       The level crossing downtime would be shorter for passenger trains than that experienced for the freight trains currently using the rail line. Whilst there would be more instances of level crossing down time, these would be of a shorter duration and a recommended condition would require further investigations to be undertaken should a longer down time be experienced than at present.  The Highways Officer was not aware of any complaints regarding the current level of downtime at the level crossing.  No mitigation had been proposed at the current time as any interventions required would be determined by the study.

·       A reminder was provided that the application was for the station and it was the impact of any increased traffic due to the provision of the station which should be considered.

·       The route of the proposed cycle/footpath was due to the topography of the land and it would be ensured that a lighting scheme for this was pursued as part of the conditions.

·       The effect of any additional traffic travelling to the station via the roundabout had been considered as part of the application.  In the event of any diversion required from the A189 across the roundabout different protocols would be put in place as part of an emergency planning response.

·       It was considered that the development of the station would not materially increase the level of traffic on Cowpen Road as existing road users would use the road to access the station rather than making the longer journey into Newcastle.

·       No “residents only” parking scheme had been requested.  If in the future car parking charges were imposed and parking on residential streets became an issue mitigation would be investigated at that point.

·       The footbridge to be provided would be designed in accordance with relevant specifications and requirements.

·       Likely travel patterns for both the proposed stations at Newsham and Bebside had been taken into account with the travel surveys undertaken in 2018/2019 prior to Covid and a further assessment had been done in June 2021. It was thought that the levels of traffic already using the network would remain approximately the same it would just be the destination that was different. 

·       An assessment of the operation of the level crossing was required in advance of the commencement of passenger rail services as part of Condition 23 of any permission granted.

·       In relation to the animal sanctuary it was reported that an agreement was close to being reached.  The original proposal had been to purchase all the land, however following representations from the animal sanctuary advance negotiations were underway for the purchase of only 2 hectares rather than the whole site.  It was stated that negotiations were going well.

·       Existing issues with traffic on Cowpen Road was at peak periods only and modelling work on cars arriving at the station car park had been undertaken and taken into account.  The traffic survey had included traffic flows and Highways were content with the data.  The impact of the barrier down time would depend on how long the road was closed however at peak times this would only happen twice within an hour.  The condition to be attached to any permission granted would give some element of control on the barrier down time. Evidence and modelling had shown that the continued use of a barrier crossing was appropriate and a bridge was not required at this time, however this could be revisited with options explored should it be needed in the future.

·       There were no plans for signage on the A189 to say that there could be queuing traffic however this could be provided as part of any mitigation if it was found that traffic was queuing down the slip road. The A189 and slip road had been assessed and evidence did not suggest that this would occur as a new issue caused by the provision of a station. There was a condition in relation to directional signage.

·       The proposed Blyth link road was still being progressed, however modelling had shown that any additional impact on Cowpen Road from the proposed station did not warrant any further interventions at the present time.  Conditions would allow aspects of how the station was working to be revisited, however Members were reminded that there would be the same number of barrier down times at the rail crossing should the Bebside station not be developed.

·       Normally the policy would be to reduce parking on new developments, however the provision of a station was against the norm as the aim was to cut longer journeys being made by car with shorter journeys being made to the station.

·       There were no proposals to change restrictions at the Asda Car park.

·       The road to the car park was approximately 400m long and of sufficient length for cars queuing to exit the car park.  The views of businesses along that stretch of road had been taken into account and they would benefit from an improved road and some parking provision provided, which was not available at the current time.

·       The construction method statement was conditioned to be agreed prior to commencement on the site and would provide precise details of how vehicles would access the site and how any prefabricated units would be brought onto site. As part of the Transport Works Act Order there was included provision for temporary access should the Inquiry approve that, however that was outside of this application.

·       The proximity of the station and the slowing down of trains approaching the station had been taken into account when considering the barrier down time at the crossing.

·       The modelling on projected numbers of cyclists accessing the station showed sufficient cycle parking provision however this could be monitored and increased if necessary and CCTV coverage of the area conditioned.

·       Net biodiversity gain was to be provided as part of the overall Northumberland Line scheme rather than individual stations.  Scrubland was good for wildlife and Officers were happy that mitigation of the lost scrubland could be provided at Potland Burn, Ashington in conjunction with other developments such as BritishVolt and at other locations.

·       It was not proposed that the whole length of the private road be adopted, but it was a possibility for a short part at the front.  Condition 22 would secure the future monitoring and maintenance of the road by a relevant party.

·       Analysis undertaken had shown that improvements on Cowpen Road and the roundabout were not warranted and could not be justified at the current time as part of this development, however improvements could be implemented in the future if evidenced that these were required.

Councillor Robinson proposed acceptance of the recommendation to grant permission as outlined in the report with the amendment to condition 10 as detailed by the Officer which was seconded by Councillor Darwin.

During debate of the application it was stated that a lot of detail had been provided on the application but it was still a difficult decision as a lot of the points made in relation to the traffic situation were fair, however there was a requirement to get people out of cars and this would encourage shorter car journeys.  It was hoped that appropriate bus links to the station would be provided to further reduce the need for car journeys and good footways and cycleways would be provided to further help the green agenda.  Whilst the majority of Members were in support of the station development, Councillor Reid advised that he did not think that people would use the station to travel to Ashington and would not be used by anyone travelling to Blyth to work.

A vote was taken on the proposal to grant permission with the conditions as outlined in the report and the amendment to Condition 10 as outlined above as follows;  FOR 12; AGAINST 0; ABSTENTION 1.

RESOLVED that the application be GRANTED for the reasons and with the conditions as outlined in the report with the amendment to Condition 10.