The Ashington & Blyth Community Partnership meeting was scheduled to discuss upcoming challenges and opportunities in planning, alongside community engagement for the local plan. The meeting also included a session for public questions and a community marketplace.

Planning: New Challenges and Opportunities

Rob Murfin, Director of Housing and Planning, was scheduled to present on the evolving landscape of planning, highlighting new challenges and opportunities. The presentation, titled Local Plan – Challenges on horizon? , aimed to provide context on the importance of planning, outline current pressures and risks, and explore potential opportunities. It was noted that the plan-led approach remains the default for determining planning applications, with the Northumberland Local Plan and made Neighbourhood Plans forming the basis for decisions. However, the report pack indicated that without a current plan, speculation could drive decisions.

The presentation was set to cover changes since the Local Plan was prepared, including the development of the Northumberland Line, the establishment of the North East Combined Authority, increased inward investment, investment in town centres, the North East Investment Zone, and growing pressures related to affordable and specialist housing, as well as tourism. A significant point of discussion was the national target of 1.5 million new homes and its implications for the council, including the Housing Delivery Test, the 5 Year Supply Test, and the Quality and Speed Tests for planning decisions.

The report pack highlighted that changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) in 2024 could impact the council's ability to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply. The current five-year housing land supply was reported as 7.5 years, with a Housing Delivery Test of 266%. However, a forecast indicated that by March 31, 2027, when the Local Plan would be five years old and the five-year housing land supply would be calculated on a higher housing target, the council would likely be unable to demonstrate this supply, leading to the application of the presumption in favour of sustainable development.

Specific changes to planning legislation and the NPPF were to be discussed, including the concept of Grey Belt land, which refers to Green Belt land that does not perform well against certain defined purposes. The report pack also mentioned a permanent presumption in favour of suitably located development, building homes around stations, and urban and suburban densification, which includes infill development and development on low-density plots. The presentation was also expected to touch upon reforms to how public involvement and planning committees operate.

The scale of the challenge was underscored by the Northumberland Local Plan's target of 34,500 new homes and a projected population increase to 366,590 by 2047, with the majority of growth expected from other parts of England. The report pack suggested two potential paths forward: either involving communities in creating a new plan to deliver benefits, including local decision-making, or facing an increasing number of appeal cases with a higher risk of losing.

An indicative timetable for the local plan process was provided, with a notice of intention to start plan-making in April 2026, followed by a scoping consultation in May-June 2026. Public consultations on proposed plan content and evidence were scheduled for early 2027, with the independent examination anticipated in Autumn/Winter 2028 and plan adoption in early 2029. The scoping consultation was intended to gather views on key issues and priorities to inform the future vision for the Local Plan.

Public Question Time

The meeting was scheduled to include a session for public questions, where members of the public could ask questions submitted in writing in advance. These questions were to be about issues for which the Council has responsibility. The agenda noted that public question times occur on a bimonthly basis and are at the discretion of the chair. Questions could be rejected if they required the disclosure of confidential or exempt information, were defamatory, frivolous, offensive, substantially the same as previous questions, disproportionate in cost to answer, being addressed through the complaints process, not about a council responsibility, or related to planning or licensing applications.

Petitions

The agenda included an item for petitions, which was to cover the receipt of any new petitions, the consideration of reports on previously received petitions, and updates on petitions for which a report was previously considered.

Community Marketplace and Informal Discussion

A Community Market Place was planned to facilitate informal discussions with various businesses and organisations within the local community. This provided an opportunity for attendees to engage in informal conversations with representatives from different sectors.