South Tyneside Council has formally adopted its local plan, a development blueprint that will shape housing, employment and infrastructure across the borough until 2040. The approval came after a planning inspector found the plan 'sound,' subject to modifications.
The plan includes significant housing allocations, including controversial proposals for Green Belt land at Fellgate. Earlier attempts to progress the plan were rejected by councillors in September 2024 and February 2025, prompting the government to intervene and require the plan to proceed to examination in public.
Statutory duty and warnings
Members of the Reform UK-led authority were told in a report that the council was under a statutory obligation to maintain a current local plan. It warned that failure to approve it could lead to legal action, weaken the council's control over future development and bring further government interference.
Councillor David Royal, cabinet member for economic growth, regeneration and investment, said the council had one of the country's most outdated local plans and that "difficult decisions" had been avoided in the past. He said the authority had committed "significant time, money and resources" to the plan, which would be wasted if it were not approved, and highlighted the risk of more central government interference. He also said the plan covered more than housing, including economic development, regeneration of town centres and protection of green spaces and historic landscapes.
Opposition and warnings
Opposition members, including councillors from the Green Party, Labour and independents, voted against the plan. Councillor Rachael Taylor, leader of the Green Group, said the government was "forcing 5,000 homes on us" through an "unwanted and unsustainable local plan". She cited concerns over flood risk, an "inadequate sewerage system", long-term impacts on wildlife, loss of green space and uncertainty over affordable housing.
Labour councillor Geraldine Kilgour, who represents the Fellgate and Hedworth ward, where substantial housing development is planned, raised concerns from campaigners about the impact on the Green Belt and an operational farm. Other worries included traffic congestion, sewerage infrastructure, school places and healthcare provision.
Councillor Kate Owens-Palmer of the South Tyneside Alliance Group said the council was deliberating an "inherited Labour-developed plan" and questioned what "fresh engagement" the new Reform UK administration had carried out. She added: "The plan before us should just do more than reconciling a new administration to an old faded plan that has been rejected twice, with the communities here expected to live with the consequences. A fresh mandate should have been brought."
Result
The council voted 34 to 13 in favour of formally adopting the local plan. The meeting was streamed live on the council's YouTube channel.
