Newbiggin Dene is a valued community green space, and we share residents’ anger and concern about its future. We oppose the construction of an access road through it and want the land returned to public ownership.
We have tried to keep party politics out of the campaign to protect the Dene because protecting the land should matter more than scoring points. However, our opponents have portrayed us as supporting the sale, and we cannot leave that misrepresentation unanswered.
As ward councillors, we were asked for our views on whether outline proposals should proceed to planning, as part of the Council’s delegated decision process. We had no decision making power in that process.
The land we were asked about was described as being at Etal Way. The decision was titled “Sale of Land at Etal Way”, without identifying Newbiggin Dene by name. We were not provided with detailed plans and understood that these would be shared and scrutinised through public consultation.
The consultation with us was confidential, so we could not speak about it publicly at the time. We understood that residents would have the opportunity to challenge the proposals before any sale took place. Crucially, we understood that the land would remain unsold unless planning permission had been granted, and that refusal at planning was the only way to stop the sale.
As a member of the Planning Committee, George was careful not to comment in a way that could be seen as predetermining a future application. He wanted to preserve his ability to take part in deciding any application brought before the committee, including voting against it.
Our approach was based on the understanding that the planning process would provide an opportunity to stop the sale. It was not support for selling the land, and certainly not for the subsequent proposal to build an access road through the Dene.
The land was then sold without our knowledge, before planning permission had been granted and without the public consultation we understood would happen. The opportunity for residents to challenge the proposals before the sale was completed never came.
That was fundamentally different from the process we understood would follow. Our response is now being presented as support for the sale, while leaving out the understanding on which it was based: that residents could challenge the proposals at planning and stop the sale.
We only discovered that the sale had happened after our time as city councillors ended in May, through residents’ social media posts and the subsequent Chronicle article. Since then, we have been seeking answers from the Civic Centre.
Our objection as Woolsington Parish Councillors makes our opposition to the access road clear. Residents deserve answers about why the land was sold before the consultation and planning process we understood would take place.
Persimmon must now do the right thing and return the land to public ownership. Newbiggin Dene should be protected for the community, not cut through by an access road.
Alexander Hay, George Pattison, Jacqui Robinson
Former Councillors for Kingston Park South and Newbiggin Hall