A HOUSING development of six new affordable homes will turn a village into a ‘shanty town’, a resident has claimed.

The development by Karbon Homes in Haydon Bridge has seen 24 former garages demolished to make way for the properties between Greenwich Gardens and Hordley Acres, as well as 36 new parking spaces.

Gordon Brown (82) has lived at Greenwich Gardens for 51 years and said the stone wall in his garden had been knocked down as part of the development.

“The privacy and security of this home is threatened now the garden wall has been knocked down,” he said.

Gordon’s daughter, Michelle Brown, said the planning application stated the stone garden wall, which stood at 8ft, would be retained. However, it has since been knocked down to a height of 450mm with a wooden fence to be erected in its place at a height of 6ft.

“The planning application said the wall would be retained, and not that it would be knocked down,” she said.

She claimed the new homes would be spaced 21 metres away from existing homes. However, Northumberland County Council planning policy outlines a 25-metre distance is required.

Michelle added: “They’re squeezing these houses into a tight space. It’s going to look like a shanty town.

“Local residents are up in arms about this.”

Simon Rycroft, senior development officer for Karbon Homes, said the distances between homes had been approved by the planning authority.

“We are content that our new development has been designed by our architects to comply with all relevant planning guidance from the county council,” he said.

“As part of our planning consent, we committed to retain rather than replace the boundary wall on the western edge of our site, however, after checking the structural quality of this wall, our engineers advised that we are unable to retain it any higher than 450mm.

“The council confirmed that retaining the wall at this height is appropriate and complies with planning consent. To ensure the remaining wall’s stability in the long term, we will be adding an extra layer of blockwork within Karbon’s boundary to the eastern side of the wall, which will be hidden from view by a coping stone on top.

“We told residents about our revised plan for the wall in a letter sent before work began on site. We have committed to providing a fence on the boundary to ensure the privacy and security of residents.”