The Area Planning Committee (North) of County Durham Council was scheduled to discuss a planning application for the development of 26 residential dwellings in Sacriston. The meeting's agenda also included the minutes from a previous meeting and other administrative items.

Development of 26 Residential Dwellings in Sacriston

The committee was scheduled to consider a proposal for the development of 26 residential dwellings, along with new access, landscaping, and infrastructure, at Land To The West Of Fulforth Way, Sacriston¹. The application, identified as DM/24/03032/FPA, was submitted by NorthCountry Homes Limited.

The report pack indicated that the site is a grassed field located on the northwestern edge of Sacriston. It has a history of being associated with the former Sacriston/Carelaw Colliery, which operated from 1839 to 1985. This historical use has led to challenges with land remediation due to historic coal mining activities. The site is not allocated for housing in the County Durham Plan but is considered to be well-related to the settlement.

Concerns raised by objectors included the potential loss of dentist, GP, and school capacity, an increase in traffic, and the impact on the amenity of neighbouring residents. The report pack noted that the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is a key material planning consideration, and given the absence of a five-year housing land supply (estimated at 4.4 years), the tilted balance in paragraph 11(d) of the NPPF would apply if there was conflict with the development plan.

The applicant's viability case suggested that the development would incur a shortfall of over £300,000 due to high abnormal costs associated with remediation. Consequently, the proposal did not include affordable homes or financial contributions towards increasing school capacity, GP surgery capacity, or providing off-site public open spaces. Officers' scrutiny of the viability appraisal, with input from an independent consultant, agreed that there would not be sufficient financial surplus to fund these contributions.

The report pack outlined that the development would provide a mix of one, two, three, and four-bedroom houses. It also detailed that the proposal would deliver a 10% Biodiversity Net Gain² through on-site measures. The report also addressed highway safety, landscape and visual impacts, trees and hedgerows, residential amenity, drainage and flooding, contaminated land, heritage and archaeology, and energy efficiency.

Officers recommended that the application be approved, subject to a number of conditions. These conditions related to time limits, approved plans, housing technical standards (including Nationally Described Space Standards³ and M4(2) accessible dwellings⁴), ecology, drainage, soil resource management, highways, landscaping, public open space, contaminated land, boundary treatments, construction management plans, working hours, noise mitigation, broadband, and the retention of drives.