Residents in Northumberland have been urged to remain calm amid fears some towns could see thousands of new houses built. It comes after a new assessment was published looking at the potential number of new houses each settlement could accommodate in theory.
Known as the Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment, the figures were arrived at following a "call for sites" for the council's new local plan. Developers were asked to put forward potential sites they would like to build on - but council bosses say only a small proportion of the land will be built on.
What the figures show
The figures show Cramlington could have more than 12,000 new homes if all of the 34 potential sites were fully developed, while Morpeth could have almost 7,000 across 48 sites.
Deputy leader Coun Richard Wearmouth said: "We did our call for sites which is an important part of the local plan, and this is what has come back. This is the sum total of what was offered, not what we have to accept by any stretch of the imagination."
Council reassures residents
Coun Wearmouth added: "Many of these sites will be totally inappropriate. We had to publish this, it allows us to start up an analysis of what has come in and then after that go to the public and ask what they think with information about which sites are more realistic."
"If we went out before we did that analysis, we wouldn't be able to have a logical conversation with residents. That's the place we have come to at the moment."
Housing target increase
The county council is developing a new local plan after the Government significantly increased Northumberland's housing target. Ministers say it is part of efforts to tackle a national housing crisis, but the move has been met with resistance from the Tory-led administration at County Hall.
Coun Wearmouth said: "The Government has increased our housing target and this is why we're having to do this. The county council cannot prevent this."
"The council received interest from developers countywide that would create 100,000 more homes across Northumberland. We already have around 20,000 homes with consent, so we're only really looking for an additional 10,000."
"We need 10% of this land to be used for housing. The unfortunate thing is everybody will be worried when they see land next door to them, but the message now is do not worry. You will have the chance to make representations and there is every chance that the land you're worried about will not become part of the plan."
