Published at 14:35, Friday, 12 March 2010

IT’S back to the drawing board for the Duke of Northumberland’s £30 million plans for Prudhoe.

For a judge has quashed planning permission granted by Tynedale Council for the scheme, which would include a new Sainsbury’s store, a multi-storey car park and more than 150 new homes.
The Co-operative Group, which has an outlet in the town, launched a judicial review of the planning process, claiming that an environmental impact assessment ought to have been carried out before the plans were considered.
This was upheld following a hearing in Manchester’s administrative court on February 23 , and in a ruling delivered on Friday Tynedale Council was found to have erred in the law.
Richard Robson, who was Tynedale’s chief executive when the plans were passed, and who is now executive director of place with Northumberland County Council, expressed disappointment.
But local campaigners, who have opposed the development relentlessly for several years, were delighted and planning big celebrations.

Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk