Today is the deadline for responding to this consultation and I submitted SENRUG’s response on time. It involved reading through the entire document (over 300 pages). The good news is that the Council’s aspiration to re-open the Ashington Blyth & Tyne line (AB&T) for passengers comes through loud and clear (see policy number 44), and in general terms the line is protected from development. But the protection of station sites and access to them is not specifically spelled out. Also, the Morpeth to Bedlington branch is protected but not Woodhorn to Newbiggin or Newsham to Blyth, neither is there protection for the north to east junction between the East Coast Main Line (ECML) and AB&T at Stobswood, or for eventual doubling of the single track section of the AB&T between the County southern boundary and Newsham, nor Ashington to Stobswood. In addition to the AB&T, the policy as currently worded includes no aspiration to develop services on the ECML, just to “maintain” what we already have. So SENRUG’s response is to suggest a strengthening to the wording of policy 44 accordingly. See our full response here.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chair Dan Nesbitt is objecting to a Planning Application at New Hartley which would apparently prevent a station from being located there. This application would be in contravention of the former Blyth Valley Core Strategy which is still current until the Northumberland Core Strategy is adopted. New Hartley is not currently proposed as a station on the re-opened AB&T route but the possibility should be protected for future further development of the line particularly in view of the station’s proximity to Seaton Delaval Hall. The former Blyth Valley document also mandated the route from Newsham to Blyth Town Centre be protected – but that didn’t stop planning permission being granted for a development at Malvin’s Road in Cowpen which now makes it impossible to use this former freight route into Blyth for passenger services. So it does seem getting the wording of these Core Strategies right and unambiguous is important.
