A planning application for a proposed new residential development in East Cramlington has been submitted to Northumberland County Council for consideration.
North East employer Banks Property is promoting the development of the new Chapel View housing scheme on an eight hectare site to the south of the B1326 and the east of the A189.
The Chapel View scheme would include around 200 homes for families and first time buyers, as well as areas of informal green space, and would sit to the east of Cramlington’s new specialist Emergency Care Hospital, which is scheduled to open in the summer.
Family-owned Banks Property has been undertaking consultations with local residents and community leaders about the project over recent months, and has also been gathering ideas from local people about how they think the overall development package might achieve the maximum economic, environmental and social benefit for the local community.
Ideas that have been put forward so far include making improvements to local footpaths and cycleways, improving recreational and play areas for children and introducing new traffic calming measures.
The Chapel View scheme has been designed to bring a range of economic, employment, environmental, supply chain and social benefits to the local area, which would follow on from the £800,000 of funding provided by the Banks Community Fund to local groups and good causes in Northumberland over the last decade.
The Banks Group is one of Northumberland’s largest private sector employers, with around 200 people employed at the nearby Shotton and Brenkley Lane surface mines. The Durham-headquartered firm has worked in the area for more than three decades, and its local operations contribute around £35m to the regional economy every year through wages, investments and the local supply chain.
Mark Dowdall, environment and community director at The Banks Group, says: “There is a clear and increasingly pressing need across the North East to boost the available supply of quality homes, a need which the Chapel View scheme would help to address in this part of Northumberland, and we’re excited to have reached this landmark in its development.
“We’ve had a very encouraging response from local residents and businesses to our proposals over the last few months, and there’s been a pleasing degree of recognition of the benefits that the project could bring to the area.
“The Chapel View scheme has excellent road links, is being designed to complement existing residential development within the local community, and is located in an area where we are certain there will be strong demand for the type of high quality housing that we are proposing.
“We believe Chapel View is an excellent development in a wholly suitable location, and are hopeful that Northumberland County Council’s planning committee will be minded to back our proposals when they come up for consideration.”
A decision on the Chapel View planning application is expected by the summer. For further information on the proposed scheme and to register your support for it, please visit www.banksgroup.co.uk/chapel-view or contact the project team on chapelview@banksgroup.co.uk