The Ashington & Blyth Community Partnership meeting was scheduled to discuss upcoming challenges and opportunities in planning, particularly in light of national policy changes and the council's housing targets. The meeting also included provisions for public questions, petitions, and an informal community marketplace.

Planning: New Challenges and Opportunities

A significant portion of the meeting was dedicated to a discussion on planning, with Rob Murfin, Director of Housing and Planning, scheduled to present. The report pack indicated that this session would cover the context and importance of planning, current pressures and risks, potential opportunities, and the projected timetable for future planning activities.

The presentation materials highlighted that the Plan-led approach to development, which relies on the Northumberland Local Plan and neighbourhood plans, remains the default. However, the absence of a robust plan can lead to speculation driving decisions. Several factors have emerged since the current 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 creation of the North East Investment Zone, and growing pressures related to affordable and specialist housing, as well as tourism. The report pack also noted that 34,000 new homes have been built.

National policy changes, particularly the 1.5 million new homes target, are placing pressure on local authorities. The Housing Delivery Test (HDT), 5 Year Supply Test, and Quality Test are all factors influencing planning decisions. The report pack indicated that Northumberland currently has a five-year housing land supply of 7.5 years, with a Housing Delivery Test result of 266%. However, it forecasts that by March 2027, when the Local Plan will be five years old and the five-year housing land supply will be calculated based on a higher housing target, the council will likely be unable to demonstrate a sufficient supply, leading to the application of a presumption in favour of sustainable development.

Recent announcements, including changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) in December 2025, are expected to have significant implications. These include the potential development on Grey Belt land, which is land within the Green Belt that does not perform key protective functions. The report pack also mentioned a permanent presumption in favour of suitably located development, including building homes around stations and urban and suburban densification, such as infill development and development within residential curtilages.

The presentation also touched upon the real-life challenges of planning, including the scale of required growth, with Northumberland's population forecast to increase significantly by 2047, largely due to migration from other parts of England. The report pack suggested that the council could either involve communities in creating a new plan to deliver benefits and local decision-making, or face increasing numbers of appeal cases, with a higher risk of losing as developers focus on greenfield sites and market hotspots.

An indicative timetable was provided, outlining key stages for the development of a new Local Plan, starting with a scoping consultation in May-June 2026, public consultation on proposed plan content in early 2027, and potential adoption in early 2029. The scoping consultation aims to gather views on key issues and priorities to inform the future vision for the Local Plan.

Public Question Time

The agenda included a slot for public question time, where members of the public could submit written questions in advance. The report pack outlined the criteria for question acceptance, noting that 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, or related to planning and licensing applications.

Petitions

The meeting was scheduled to receive any new petitions, consider reports on petitions previously received, and receive updates on petitions for which a report had already been considered.

Community Market Place and Informal Discussion

A Community Market Place was planned to facilitate informal discussions between community members and various local businesses and organisations. This provided an opportunity for networking and engagement outside of the formal agenda items.