Northumberland Local Plan

Highway Improvement Lines Saved Policy Review

May 2019

Introduction The purpose of this review is to determine the extent of the saved lines to be contained within emerging Policies TRA 3 and TRA 5 of the Local Plan and to seek to justify their inclusion in the Local Plan.

Background In October 2016 a review of the Highway Improvement Schemes was undertaken that clarified the position of the Council in relation to such schemes that had a Policy basis under the Local Plan and Core Strategies prepared by the former District Councils. This review included Highways Improvement Schemes that were formally published when approached as part of a Local Property Search (Conveyance 29) requests.

The review sought to remove all Highways Improvement Schemes that did not have a Saved Policy following the review of the Former District Local Plan and Core Strategies necessitated by the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.

Furthermore, Saved Lines contained within Neighbourhood Plans at the time of this review (October 2016) were included in the review; however, the only route with a policy basis at that time was the Stobill/Loansdean Link Road within the Morpeth Neighbourhood Plan (adopted as Policy Tra1).

These Saved Lines and their relevant Saved Policies are listed in Table 1 for the Former District Areas. Those schemes highlighted in red are not declared during Local Property Search (Conveyance 29) requests.

Table 1: Previous Saved Lines Former District Policy Ref Scheme Berwick-upon- M2 Dual carriageway improvements (A1 Trunk Road) Tweed M3 Upgrade to dual carriageway standard (A1 Trunk Road) M18 Seahouses - upgrade of unmade roads to adoption standard in the old part of the village. M19 Seahouses - improvements in Main Street , to the junction with Harbour Road M20 Seahouses - carriageway widening and footpath provision on Broad Road M21 Cornhill Bypass (A698) M22 Wooler Bypass (A697) M23 Belford - improvements to High Street south of Market Place

1 M24 Wooler - improvements to Market Place and High Street M25 Wooler - extension of footpath network M26 Wooler - upgrade Victoria Road and Ryecroft Crescent to adoption standards M9 (a) East West Link M9 (b) Station Road Roundabout, Cramlington (A1172) M9 (d) Ogle Drive Link Road, Blyth M9 (d) Princes Louise Road/ Ogle Drive Blyth M9 (c) Construction of junction where A189 meets East-West Link Road, Blyth M10 Improvements to B1322, Backworth Lane and road linking eastern end of New Hartley with the A190 Safeguard road lines for A1068 Fisher Lane dualling and realignment of B1326 East Cramlington Road close to its junction with the A192 A3 , Blyth and Tyne railway line protection T1 & M1 A1 South East Northumberland Link T1 & BET1 Belsay Bypass (A696) T1 & PT2 Bypass Link T1 & PT1 Ponteland Bypass (A696) T1 B6318 to A69 Link Road T2 Minor improvement schemes including - A1068/ B1337 junction, increase height of Mill Farm accommodation bridge A1 Morpeth Bypass , A197/ B6524 junction, Coopies Lane/ A192 junctions, A197/ B1337 junction Pegswood, St. George’s access road, B6343 Dogger Bank MT2 In accordance with Policy T2 - A197/ B6524 junction Morpeth, Coopies Lane/ A193 junctions, St. Georges, B6343 Dogger Bank T9 (e) Construction of Pegswood Bypass TP1 Improvements to A69 Trunk Road to Dual Carriageway standard TP2 Otterburn Bypass (A696) TP2 Wark Bypass (B6320) TP3 Swinburne Quarry to Fourlaws Road (A68) TP4 Old A69 to Park Road TP25 Haltwhistle-Alston railway line between Gilderdale Burn Viaduct and Haltwhistle Station. Future extension to South Tynedale Railway or for leisure purposes T9 Reiverdale Road Ashington T9 East Sleekburn junction (A189) T9 Barrington Road, (C404) T9 Wellhead Dene Road, Ashington T9 Hartford Bridge Improvement (A1068) T9 Woodhorn/ Newbiggin Link (A197)

2 T1 Ashington/ Newcastle railway line and land required for associated facilities

A review of the Highway Improvement Schemes listed in Table 1 has been undertaken as part of the preparation of the Northumberland Local Plan and the following sections of this report indicate the retention, deletion or otherwise of the Improvement Scheme based upon the evidence base prepared for the Northumberland Local Plan, documents submitted as part of recent Planning Application Decisions and changes in overarching National Policy. For ease of reference, the review is broken down by former District area.

Former District Area There were no saved policies indicated in this review that were within the former area in reference to Highway Improvement Schemes. Therefore, there were no routes to be considered as part of this review for the Northumberland Local Plan.

Nevertheless, it is noted that the Plan supports the delivery of the A1 dualling through the former Alnwick District area within Policy TRA 3.

Former Berwick-upon-Tweed District Area Table 2 details the review of the previously saved schemes within the former Berwick-upon-Tweed District area.

Table 2: Former Berwick-upon-Tweed District Saved Lines Review Policy Scheme Decision Reasoning Ref M2 Dual carriageway improvements Carried Full dualling of A1 is (A1 Trunk Road) forward supported in Policy TRA 3 M3 Upgrade to dual carriageway into Local standard (A1 Trunk Road) Plan M18 Seahouses - upgrade of unmade Remove To attribute this requirement roads to adoption standard in the to any future development is old part of the village. highly unlikely to meet the Planning Tests. There is separate legislation available through the Private Street Works code of the 1980 Highways Act to achieve this aim outside the Planning Process and therefore there is no requirement to save this improvement.

3 M19 Seahouses - improvements in Remove These improvements, if still Main Street , to the junction with required, are contained Harbour Road within the existing highway boundary and therefore do not need protection from any proposals submitted via a Planning Application. Any development that could be attributed to requiring these improvements, could be secured under Grampian Conditions. M20 Seahouses - carriageway Remove Requirement for Broad Road widening and footpath provision improvements contained on Broad Road within Policy 8 of the North Northumberland Coast Neighbourhood Plan. M21 Cornhill Bypass (A698) Remove There are no allocations within this Local Plan that would necessitate the need for a By-Pass of Cornhill. Furthermore, the capacity of the network in this location is considered sufficient to accommodate future development in a future Plan Period and it would be unreasonable to safeguard this route as part of this Plan. M22 Wooler Bypass (A697) Remove There are no allocations within this Local Plan that would necessitate the need for a By-Pass of Wooler. Furthermore, the capacity of the network in this location is considered sufficient to accommodate future development in a future Plan Period and it would be unreasonable to safeguard this route as part of this Plan. Furthermore, the pre-submission draft of the Wooler Neighbourhood Plan does not include any provision for the Wooler By-Pass. M23 Belford - improvements to High Remove These improvements, if still Street south of Market Place required, are contained

4 within the existing highway boundary and therefore do not need protection from any proposals submitted via a Planning Application. Any development that could be attributed to requiring these improvements, could be secured under Grampian Conditions. M24 Wooler - improvements to Market Remove These improvements, if still Place and High Street required, are contained within the existing highway boundary and therefore do not need protection from any proposals submitted via a Planning Application. Any development that could be attributed to requiring these improvements, could be secured under Grampian Conditions. M25 Wooler - extension of footpath Remove These improvements, if still network required, are contained within the existing highway boundary and therefore do not need protection from any proposals submitted via a Planning Application. Any development that could be attributed to requiring these improvements, could be secured under Grampian Conditions. Improvement to Footpath links towards the town centre are detailed within the draft policies within the Pre-Submission Draft of the Wooler Neighbourhood Plan for those developments allocated within this document. M26 Wooler - upgrade Victoria Road Remove To attribute this requirement and Ryecroft Crescent to to any future development is adoption standards highly unlikely to meet the Planning Tests. There is separate legislation available through the Private Street Works code of the 1980

5 Highways Act to achieve this aim outside the Planning Process and therefore there is no requirement to save this improvement.

Former Blyth Valley District Area Table 3 details the review of the previously saved schemes within the former Blyth Valley District area.

Table 3: Former Blyth Valley District Saved Lines Review Policy Scheme Decision Reasoning Ref M9 (a) Cramlington East West Link Retain The County Wide Transport Assessment indicates that the level of development / allocations within Cramlington does not warrant any intervention in respect to the road network. However, it is known from permitted applications and work undertaken to inform S106 Contributions to the Moor Farm Roundabout that sections of the network near to the saved line are at capacity and future allocations in the following Plan Period may necessitate the need for the East-West link to mitigate their impacts. With the lack of alternative provision, it is considered that the safeguarding of the route remains appropriate. Furthermore, the pre-submission draft of the Cramlington Neighbourhood Plan includes the safeguarding of this route. M9 (b) Station Road Roundabout, Remove Improvements to this Cramlington (A1172) roundabout are already secured as part of the adjacent St Nicholas’ Manor (formally known as Centre

6 Point) development and therefore no need to retain the saved route. M9 (d) Ogle Drive Link Road, Blyth Retain This section is included in the options for the Blyth Relief Road and the final scheme is to be safeguarded under Policy TRA 3. M9 (d) Princes Louise Road/ Ogle Drive Retain This section is included in Blyth the options for the Blyth Relief Road and the final scheme is to be safeguarded under Policy TRA 3. M9 (c) Construction of junction where Retain This forms part of the A189 meets East-West Link safeguarding of the Road, Blyth Cramlington East West Link as detailed above and for completeness is retained. M10 Improvements to B1322, Remove The County Wide Transport Backworth Lane... Assessment indicates that the level of development / allocations within Seghill does not warrant any intervention in respect to the road network that could be attributed to development secured under the Planning Process. There are no local capacity issues that would justify the continued saving of the scheme as part of this Plan period. … and road linking eastern end Remove Highway Safety of New Hartley with the A190... Improvements have been secured for this section of the highway as part of the adjacent Barratt’s development at New Hartley and therefore there is no need to retain the scheme. ...Safeguard road lines for A1068 Remove This improvement scheme Fisher Lane dualling ... was previously linked to the development of the Cramlington South West Sector, which has now been granted. The Planning Authority determined that the dualling was not necessary for these developments to be approved and therefore

7 the link between this saved route and the development has been broken. ...and realignment of B1326 East Remove The scheme was linked to a Cramlington Road close to its “Sports Park Site” major junction with the A192 development in the vicinity which is no longer allocated or proposed as part of the Local Plan. As such, there is no requirement to safeguard this route. A3 Ashington, Blyth and Tyne Retain The Northumberland Line railway line protection (as now known), is saved and safeguarded under Policy TRA 5.

Former Castle Morpeth District Area Table 4 details the review of the previously saved schemes within the former Castle Morpeth District area.

Table 4: Former Castle Morpeth District Saved Lines Review Policy Scheme Decision Reasoning Ref T1 & A1 South East Northumberland Remove Scheme has been delivered. M1 Link T1 & Belsay Bypass (A696) Remove Previously safeguarded BET1 subject to Otterburn Training Ground usage. This has now been confirmed and no further improvements or intensifications are proposed. The Local Plan does not allocate development that would warrant the delivery of the by-pass and there are no capacity issues that necessitate the need to safeguard a route for beyond the Plan Period. T1 & Ponteland Bypass Link Retain The County Wide Transport PT2 Assessment indicates that T1 & Ponteland Bypass (A696) the level of development / PT1 allocations within and near Ponteland does not warrant any intervention in respect to

8 the road network. However, it is known from permitted applications that the Town Centre junction is near to capacity with limited options for mitigation. Therefore, future allocations in the following Plan Periods may necessitate the need for the route to mitigate impacts. With the lack of alternative provision, it is considered that the safeguarding of the route remains appropriate. T1 B6318 to A69 Link Road Remove Previously safeguarded subject to Otterburn Training Ground usage. This has now been confirmed and no further improvements or intensifications are proposed. The Local Plan does not allocate development that would warrant the delivery of the by-pass and there are no capacity issues that necessitate the need to safeguard a route for beyond the Plan Period. T2 Minor improvement schemes Remove Scheme implemented. including - A1068/ B1337 junction…. ...increase height of Mill Farm Remove To attribute this requirement accommodation bridge A1 to any future development is Morpeth Bypass... highly unlikely to meet the Planning Tests. This is an operational issue for Highways and in their representations to the Plan no reference has been made in relation to this scheme. Furthermore, the improvements have not been included in the adopted Neighbourhood Plan ...A197/ B6524 junction... Remove These improvements, if still required, are contained within the existing highway boundary and therefore do not need protection from any

9 proposals submitted via a Planning Application. Any development that could be attributed to requiring these improvements, could be secured under Grampian Conditions. Furthermore, the improvements have not been included in the adopted Neighbourhood Plan. ...Coopies Lane/ A192 Remove Improvements to junction junctions... have been made in conjunction with recently installed cycle scheme. ...A197/ B1337 junction Remove Pegswood By-Pass scheme Pegswood... removed this junction from the network. ...St. George’s access road... Remove Improvements secured as part of Planning Approval for Phase 1 of the St George’s Redevelopment. ….B6343 Dogger Bank Remove These improvements, if still required, are contained within the existing highway boundary and therefore do not need protection from any proposals submitted via a Planning Application. Any development that could be attributed to requiring these improvements, could be secured under Grampian Conditions. Furthermore, the improvements have not been included in the adopted Neighbourhood Plan. MT2 In accordance with Policy T2 - See above See above A197/ B6524 junction Morpeth, Coopies Lane/ A193 junctions, St. Georges, B6343 Dogger Bank

Former Tynedale District Area Table 5 details the review of the previously saved schemes within the former Tynedale District area.

10 Table 5: Former Tynedale District Saved Lines Review Policy Scheme Decision Reasoning Ref TP1 Improvements to A69 Trunk Retain Future improvements to the Road to Dual Carriageway A69 are supported in Policy standard TRA 3. TP2 Otterburn Bypass (A696) Remove The Local Plan does not allocate development that would warrant the delivery of the by-pass and there are no capacity issues that necessitate the need to safeguard a route for beyond the Plan Period. TP2 Wark Bypass (B6320) Remove The Local Plan does not allocate development that would warrant the delivery of the by-pass and there are no capacity issues that necessitate the need to safeguard a route for beyond the Plan Period. TP3 Swinburne Quarry to Fourlaws Remove To attribute this requirement Road (A68) to any future development is highly unlikely to meet the Planning Tests and the quantum of development allocated through this Local Plan is insufficient to pool contributions to the scheme. It is considered unlikely that significant levels of development that would justify the improvement in future Plan Periods will occur due to the rural location. As such it is considered inappropriate to retain the safeguarding. TP4 Old A69 to Park Road Haltwhistle Remove The link road was safeguarded to provide access to a residential allocation near Park Road. The Countywide Transport Assessment demonstrates that the current allocation will not materially impact upon the operation of the existing highway network 11 and therefore there will be no Planning justification for the link road associated with the allocation. TP25 Haltwhistle-Alston railway line Retain The routing is saved and between Gilderdale Burn Viaduct safeguarded under Policy and Haltwhistle Station. Future TRA 5. extension to South Tynedale Railway or for leisure purposes

Former Wansbeck District Area Table 6 details the review of the previously saved schemes within the former Wansbeck District area.

Table 6: Former Wansbeck District Saved Lines Review Policy Scheme Decision Reasoning Ref T9 Reiverdale Road Ashington Remove The introduction of the new link as part of the Portland Park development replaces this link and therefore it is no longer necessary. T9 East Sleekburn junction (A189) Remove The Countywide Transport Assessment has not identified any capacity issues with this junction associated with the allocation of sites within the Local Plan. The previously proposed improvements may not necessarily meet the Planning Tests in respect to costs and there are other schemes that could be introduced within the existing adopted highway that would mitigate future impacts in the next Plan Period. T9 Barrington Road, Bedlington Remove No additional employment (C404) allocations are proposed as part of the Plan and it is considered that it is unlikely that the adjacent Industrial Estate would be increased in future Plan periods. Any

12 application intensifying the usage of the Industrial Estate will need to demonstrate how they will mitigate additional HGV movements on this section of road. T9 Wellhead Dene Road, Ashington Remove There are no additional allocations of development that warrant the retention of the improvements. Any future plan that allocates additional development to the west of Ashington would need to consider access options but there are sufficient routes and options available to not safeguard the improvement as previously proposed. T9 Hartford Bridge Improvement Remove There are no allocations (A1068) within the vicinity of the route that are sufficient to warrant the retention of the scheme. The previously proposed improvements may not necessarily meet the Planning Tests in respect to costs and environmental impact. Additionally, the continuation of the scheme from the former Wansbeck District into the former Blyth Valley District was not saved by former Blyth Valley policies and is not including in the pre-submission draft of the Cramlington Neighbourhood Plan. T9 Woodhorn/ Newbiggin Link Retain Whilst the Countywide (A197) Transport Assessment indicates that the impacts of allocations can be accommodated or mitigated at the A189 junctions the improvements are unlikely to accommodate further development in future Plan Periods. As there are limited alternative options for

13 access to Newbiggin, it is considered appropriate to retain the safeguarding of the route for a future Plan Period. T9 (e) Construction of Pegswood Remove Scheme completed. Bypass T1 Ashington/ Newcastle railway line Retain The Northumberland Line and land required for associated (as now known), is saved facilities and safeguarded under Policy TRA 5.

Neighbourhood Plans A review of highways schemes contained within Neighbourhood Plans has been undertaken to see if there are any additional schemes within these documents that are additional to those detailed above or have not already been addressed in this document. This updates the review undertaken in 2016.

The Cramlington Neighbourhood Plan Pre-Submission Draft safeguards the Lancastrian Way link across the East Coast Mainline from the South-West Sector to the Dudley Lane roundabout to the south of the Town Centre. Whilst the application for the South West Sector indicated that this link was not required to mitigate any potential capacity issues on the existing road network, the designation has been proposed under the Neighbourhood Plan and safeguards the only future link across the East Coast Mainline should further development be allocated beyond the Plan period.

Summary In summary, the following Highway Improvement lines are to be continued within the Northumberland Local Plan drawing upon the suitability of current saved policy, the Countywide Transport Assessment findings and the saved improvements contained within current Neighbourhood Plans: ​ ● A1 Dualling and Improvements ● A69 Dualling and Improvements ● Ponteland Bypass ● Newbiggin / Ashington Link (formally Newbiggin-Woodhorn link) ● Blyth Relief Road ● Stobhill Loansdean Link, Morpeth ● East-West Link, Cramlington ● Lancastrian Road, Cramlington ● The Northumberland Line (formally Ashington, Blyth and Tyne) ● South Tynedale Railway

14