South Tyneside

 

Act now to save the Fellgate greenbelt

Environmental campaign group South Tyneside Friends of the Earth is calling on people to act now if they want to preserve South Tyneside’s scarce green belt.

The six week public consultation on South Tyneside’s Local Development Framework document (LDF) ends this Friday the 14th October.

Controversially, the LDF contains plans to delete 205 hectares of land from the green belt to provide space for a massive industrial estate. Friends of the Earth is urging people to write to the council by Friday in order to let council planners know the strength of public feeling against the destruction and desecration of the green belt.

South Tyneside FOE spokesperson Bryan Atkinson said:

“This area of South Tyneside has been farmed for hundreds of years and is one of the borough’s few last remaining areas of mixed pasture. The traditional hedgerows are home to an abundance of wildlife.

“The land is one of the narrowest strips of green belt in the country and was designated as green belt in the 1980’s to prevent the merging of Sunderland and Tyneside from uncontrolled urban sprawl. Sadly, South Tyneside Council are proposing to bring back the bad old days of building on green belt to feed unsustainable and speculative development.

“Once the green belt is gone, it can never be brought back. If people want to stop the merging of South Tyneside with Sunderland, and prevent the concreting of our dwindling open spaces they need to act and write to the council now”.

Ends

Contacts

Bryan Atkinson 0779 257 9827
Brian Paget: 0794 715 2782

or email: stfoe@negg.org

Notes

1. South Tyneside FOE online: http://www.stfoe.org.uk/
2. FOE England, Northern Ireland & Wales: http://www.foe.co.uk/
3. The Big Ask: http://www.thebigask.com
4. Representations on the Proposals Documents can be made in writing to:

Head of Strategic and Regulatory Services
South Tyneside Council
Town Hall and Civic Offices
Westoe Road
South Shields, NE33 2RL
or e-mailed to ldf@southtyneside.gov.uk