Plans to build 10 new homes at Pegswood have been given the green light after an application was resubmitted.
The bid was for three two-storey detached homes, one single-storey home, six semi-detached bungalows and detached garaging alongside the demolition of a stable building on land at Cookswell House, High Onstead.
They also include subdividing the house into three properties as well as removing six trees and a leylandaii hedge.
Planning officers recommended that the application be given approval subject to a number of conditions.
And sitting at the north area planning committee meeting last week, councillors agreed to give the development the go-ahead.
However, they stipulated that funds from a section 106 agreement for off-site affordable housing should be spent in Pegswod or the surrounding area, after concerns were raised that monies may end up elsewhere.
Fourteen letters of objection to the plans were received alongside nine letters of support with the objectors stating that the development would ‘destroy’ the entire setting of the current premises and would have an adverse effect on the area.
They also said that there would be a ‘loss of privacy’, ‘increased traffic’ and a dangerous junction at the entrance to the development.
But Pegswood Parish Council had no concerns other than a request to make sure on-site drainage facilities were addressed alongside refuse collection and land management. There was no objection from Morpeth Town Council.
Supporting letters said the development would be in keeping with the existing listed building, Cookswell House, would provide an ‘enhanced entrance to the village’ and would bring ‘much-needed property to Pegswood’.
Coun Alan Sambrook moved the planning officer’s recommendation to approve the plans subject to the change in conditions regarding the financial contribution to affordable housing with unanimous support from the rest of the committee.