Changes proposed for Lilidorei play village development at Northumberland's The Alnwick Garden
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Lilidorei is a high-profile new development at The Alnwick Garden, which aims to attract significant numbers of additional visitors and spend to the town each year. It is backed by Government funding via the Borderlands scheme.
Planning permission was granted by Northumberland County Council in July 2018 for the play village, ‘comprising cabins, chapel, main hall, play structure and ancillary accommodation in a landscaped setting’.
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Hide AdIn January 2021, an application to vary the condition relating to the approved plans was lodged with the local authority, seeking to replace the drawings previously submitted in order to ‘pick up minor material changes to the design following further development of the brief’.
An updated design and access statement says that ‘as a part of the approved application, a design was developed which takes into account its topography, landscape and heritage sensitivities’, before claiming the changes ‘do not change the principles discussed and agreed for the landscape and access routes’.
It later adds: ‘The emerging development proposal aims to offer improvements to the historic landscape through sensitive new development with reference to the site’s current condition, boundaries, views and available reference archive data.’
However, Alnwick Town Council, Alnwick Civic Society plus various statutory consultees are concerned that the impact of the changes is not being assessed properly.
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Hide AdThe town council’s response says that while it remains supportive of the development, it feels this variation bid ‘has such significant changes from the approved application’ that it ‘would need to see more information to be able to make detailed comments’, in particular relating to the materials and size of each of the proposed buildings.
Meanwhile, Alnwick Civic Society ‘considers that the variation application should be rejected until there is more clarity on the impact of the proposed changes on the local landscape’, expressing particular concern about views from the north, including main access roads the B6341 and the B1340, and the Pastures.
‘The new site plan indicates major changes including some new buildings of substantial size and some buildings and structures relocated,’ its response adds. ‘There are, however, no detailed drawings of the individual buildings and structures and no visualisations to show how they would fit into the re-contoured landscape.’
Similar concerns about the lack of detail, how the development’s impact might change plus requests for further information have also come from the council as lead local flood authority, the county ecologist, Historic England, and Highways England (which is responsible for the A1), while the council’s own highways team has provided a lengthy response seeking to ensure the correct conditions are applied.
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Hide AdCllr Martin Swinbank, chairman of Alnwick Town Council’s planning committee, said: “The town council supports the principle of this application and the wider value this visitor attraction will bring to Alnwick, but the detail must be carefully considered.
“The implications for the town in terms of parking, traffic flow, and potential harm to the historic approaches and other matters, must be adequately assessed through the formal planning process. There needs to be a lot more information provided regarding these changes to the agreed plans, so that a proper assessment can be made.
“We must get this right, as the future of the town is rightly a real concern for all of our residents and businesses.”