'No improper conduct' over council land sale

Council bosses insist there is "no evidence" of improper conduct surrounding a land sale.

Newcastle officials had come under pressure over a contentious plan for a new 239-home estate south of the A696 in Newbiggin Hall.

Locals had asked Newcastle City Council to designate a new country park to protect a green corridor from being used as an access road to the proposed Persimmon Homes development.

But it later emerged the local authority had already struck a deal in 2025 to sell the strip of land, with claims the council stands to make £3m if planning permission is ultimately granted.

An extraordinary council meeting to debate the issue is due to be held on Wednesday night, when local residents and opposition Reform councillors will ask the authority and Persimmon to cancel the sale.

In a report published ahead of the meeting, the council said "no evidence has been identified of inappropriate contact" between the council's property and planning departments in relation to the Newbiggin Dene site.

"Similarly, no evidence has been found to substantiate allegations of collusion or improper conduct in relation to the handling of the transaction of associated planning matters," it said.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the report confirms council officers have asked Persimmon to "consider entering into a mutual agreement to terminate the transaction" due to the community concerns, alongside efforts to find an alternative access route.

Permission's planning application is still live and the developer had said the "existing green space and existing public right of way would remain, either side of the new access road" and be supplemented with "significant amounts of public open spaces and new tree planting".

The council's Liberal Democrat administration has sought to place blame for the situation at the door of the Labour councillors who ran the authority prior to May's local elections.

Newbiggin Hall's former Labour councillors issued a statement on Monday which said they opposed the construction of an access road through Newbiggin Dene and want the land returned to public ownership.

They said they had been told detailed plans would be "shared and scrutinised through public consultation" and the land "would remain unsold unless planning permission had been granted".

Reform UK councillor Brian Moore has called for developers and the council to pursue a "logical solution" of a different access point from the north west corner of the proposed housing development and protect a "wildlife corridor that so many residents enjoy every day".

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