'False support' Wardley Colliery homes win approval

Persimmon Homes wants to build 144 homes on the Wardley Colliery site

Plans for 144 new homes which attracted "false" letters of support have been approved by councillors.

Gateshead Council planning officers said 15% of the 140 letters supporting the Wardley Colliery plan were fake and recommended it be rejected.

But the council's planning committee approved the scheme saying it was a "final opportunity" to improve the derelict site.

Landowner Bill Coats and developer Persimmon denied any wrongdoing.

In a report for the councillors, planning officer Andrew Softley said more than 20 letters purporting to be in support were known to have been faked with some of the supposed signatories claiming they had no knowledge of the plan.

He also said he "serious concerns" over "factual errors" in a flyer distributed by the landowner.

Mr Softley had recommended the plan be rejected as it would "significantly harm" the area's wildlife and surrounding Green Belt.

'Injustice'

But councillors said it was an opportunity to clean up the former industrial site, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Wardley and Leam Lane councillor Stuart Green said: "We believe this is our only opportunity to remove this blight from dereliction.

"We have campaigned for 30 years for improvements. We're told this derelict industrial land cannot be built on, it's an injustice. This is our final opportunity."

Lynne Caffrey, councillor for Chopwell and Rowlands Gill, said: "It's a brown field in the greenbelt. With the best will in the world, we as a council don't have the money to restore it to a green belt site.

"Someone is offering to do it and present a clean site and actually have houses on it and still be surrounded by greenbelt."