PLANS for a brand-new farmhouse near Heddon-on-the-Wall have been rejected.

The proposal for a four-bedroom, traditional stone property on land at Ashtree Farm was unanimously refused by members of the Castle Morpeth Local Area Council last week.

The site is in the open countryside and the green belt, meaning new housing would not normally be allowed.

The applicant stated that the property was needed as a rural worker’s dwelling, which is one of the special circumstances that can overcome the usual stance of development being inappropriate in the green belt.

However, there are strict criteria which must be met and the county council had the proposal independently assessed before recommending refusal in this case.