Agenda item

Construction of a two-platform railway station including: pedestrian lifts, stepped pedestrian access, new highway accesses; construction of overbridge to carry diverted A1061 with shared footway and cycleway. Modifications to existing highways including new roundabouts and realignment of local roads and construction of new access roads from the highway; provision of parking for buses, cars, electric vehicles, motorcycles, cycles, and taxis; works to of public rights of way. Construction of 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 The A1061, South Newsham Road, Blyth, Northumberland

Construction of a two-platform railway station including: pedestrian lifts, stepped pedestrian access, new highway accesses; construction of overbridge to carry diverted A1061 with shared footway and cycleway. Modifications to existing highways including new roundabouts and realignment of local roads and construction of new access roads from the highway; provision of parking for buses, cars, electric vehicles, motorcycles, cycles, and taxis; works to of public rights of way. Construction of 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 The A1061, South Newsham Road, Blyth, Northumberland

G Halliday, Consultant Planner provided a comprehensive introduction to the application with the aid of a power point presentation, including visualisations of the proposed station. 

A Healey, Planning Consultant, addressed the Committee speaking in support of the application.  Her comments included the following:-

·       This application was one of six new stations proposed as part of plans to reintroduce passenger services between Newcastle and Ashington and the final station to be heard by this Committee.

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

·       The proposals had also been the subject of a significant public consultation exercise, whereupon several hundred people wrote to support the overall Northumberland Line scheme with 206 representations specifically supporting the proposals at Newsham. Such support confirmed there was a significant public interest in the development of a new railway station at Newsham.

·       The applicant recognised concerns raised by residents in relation to the impact of the proposals on the existing on-street parking arrangement and to address these the submitted proposals sought to safeguard and formalise the existing arrangement.  The area proposed to be formalised had been maximised within the constraints of the site and the report confirmed that the Highways Authority supported this provision in order to improve road safety for road users accessing the station.

·       The introduction of passenger trains onto the railway line would increase the frequency of closures and risk of accidents at level crossings. At Newsham a risk assessment undertaken by Network Rail concluded that the closure of the level crossing was the safest intervention. The proposed bridge provided a diversion which would remove the delays associated with queuing at a level crossing, whilst improving safety for road users and meeting the relevant industry safety requirements.  The proposals had been thoroughly assessed by Highways Officers who had confirmed the proposals were appropriate, subject to the imposition of conditions.

·       The submitted documents provided a robust case demonstrating the application was in accordance with relevant planning policies. Policies both within the adopted Blyth Valley Local Plan and emerging Northumberland Local Plan identified Newsham as a safeguarded location for a future railway station.

·       The proposed development was considered appropriate development within the Green Belt in accordance with relevant local and national planning policies.

·       The station and wider scheme would deliver the transport infrastructure which was required to attract inward investment into Blyth and South East Northumberland. The proposed railway station would support Blyth’s role as a key employment site and aspirations for economic growth Blyth and the South East of the County.

·       The station was sustainable development which both national and local planning policies confirmed should be supported. When balancing the objections made to the applications against the significant economic, social and environmental benefits of the scheme, it was believed that the application should be approved.

·       The application had been thoroughly assessed by planning, highways and other local authority officers with no material planning considerations to indicate permission should not be granted. Members were asked to approve the application.

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

·       There would be a 3m wide shared cycleway/footpath provided.

·       It would be up to Network Rail to protect the line and provide and manage any fencing solution.

·       The existing road would terminate and there would no longer be a railway crossing once the new road was completed and brought into use, but no phasing plan had been seen yet.

·       There would be a variety of tree planting and other types of landscaping provided around the car parks and whilst not all areas would be fenced there would be safety fencing in places.  The possibility of linking existing Public Right of Ways into new footpaths being provided around the ponds was also to be explored. Condition 9 advised that details of a scheme for biodiversity net gain was to be submitted and agreed by the Local Planning Authority before the development commenced.

·       The implications for utility connections would be considered as part of the development proposals and if the existing telecoms mast was required to be moved or replaced this would be covered by the scheme.

·       Enabling work would start immediately if the application was granted with the whole scheme expected to take approximately 19 months for completion.  This was the largest part of the overall scheme due to the need for the realignment of the road.

·       Consultation would be undertaken with the Town Council in relation to the existing signage on the roundabout and their views taken into account.

·       It was expected that the catchment area for the station would be the South Beach/Newsham and southern areas of Blyth along with villages to the South. The northern part of Blyth would be served by the Bebside station.  Car park modelling had been based on these assumptions.

Councillor Flux proposed acceptance of the recommendation to approve the application as outlined in the report, which was seconded by Councillor Hutchinson.   Whilst Councillor Reid advised that he would not be supporting the application, Councillor Flux in summing up stated that this would be transformative for residents.   A vote was taken on the proposal to approve the application as follows:-  FOR 12; AGAINST 0; ABSTENSIONS 1.

RESOLVED that the application be GRANTED for the reasons and subject to the conditions as outlined in the report.