PRUDHOE Town Council has vowed to fight plans to build 300 homes on green belt land “tooth and nail”.

The final draft of Northumberland County Council’s core strategy plan proposes to remove a large plot of land from the town’s green belt.

The land, next to Highfield Lane to the south of the town, has been earmarked for housing development.

By 2031 up to 300 homes could be built on the land, which neighbours both Highfield Middle School and Prudhoe Community High School.

Land to the south of the plot has been safeguarded up to 2031, but after that date may also be made available for a potential 200 extra homes.

Convening for an extraordinary meeting last Wednesday, town councillors condemned the proposal as an 11th hour addition which would cause long term problems for the town.

Coun. Glenn Simpson said: “I can’t believe the county council has suddenly, out of the blue, come up with this. They’re living in a dream land.”

Councillors considered that the figures for expected population growth in the town were unrealistic and suggested Prudhoe was seen as a “commuter town” for Tyneside.

Figures from the 2015 draft Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) had earmarked the plot of land adjacent to Highfield Lane for 300 homes.

And according to the SHLAA, the smaller slice of land to the south could accommodate a further 200.

However any new housing development on the site would be served by Highfield Lane, a ‘C’ road notorious in the town for congested traffic.

Coun. George McCreedy said: “That road is not safe and South Road can’t take any more traffic.

“There are four schools in that area. Prudhoe cannot cope with this and developers won’t pay for that sort of infrastructure.

“The county doesn’t have the money to pay for it either so this town is going to be gridlocked.”

Coun. Bryan Futers echoed these concerns for Prudhoe’s infrastructure.

He said: “The only run off for sewerage is to take everything and link it up to Humbles Wood and into Stanley Burn and that’s got to be in place before you put any houses in.

“We’ve got people now in the town who get flooded because the right actions weren’t taken at the time. This may end up being the same situation.”

Concern was also expressed at the potential loss of a piece of the town’s most treasured amenity land.

Coun. Simpson said: “It’s at the town’s natural high point with beautiful views.

“Once developers cross that natural boundary, they’re going to go right over the top towards Prudhoe Moor.

“Eventually there won’t be any green amenity land left in the town.

“This is not NIMBY-ism; we have accepted a lot, but fundamentally we are only a small town. We are not capable of taking so much.

“We’ve got to fight this tooth and nail, and I propose we take a very strong approach.

“They have got it very, very badly wrong and are opening Prudhoe up to long term problems.”

County council officers will attend a public meeting on Monday entitled Northumberland Local Plan core strategy consultation at Prudhoe Community Church on South Road. Doors open at 6.30pm, with the start at 7pm.