Northumberland County Council's local plan is now drawing to a close. It seems in Ponteland at least, our communities have not been listened to.
Fundamentally I believe in the Greenbelt, and I will always be a big champion of the vital role the Greenbelt plays here in Ponteland and Darras Hall.
I personally have always supported substantial development of housing at brown field sites like the old police headquarters site in Ponteland and the old hospital in Stannington. However, what I want to see is a plan which is community led, with organic growth in our individual communities.
Residents are rightly concerned that Northumberland County Council's latest plan looks to be imposing a huge growth in housing numbers, with potential for over 2000 new homes, which would increase our local population by more than a third.
Fundamentally, substantial areas of the Greenbelt are still being earmarked for housing. I have still yet to see any substantive evidence to support the County Council's case for these proposed Greenbelt deletions.
You can read the latest plans from the County Council here: http://committeedocs.