Page last updated 18th September 2026
As you are aware following the Council Meeting on 30th July the ST Local Plan was formally adopted by South Tyneside Council.
There was an opportunity under Section 113 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 for our group to make an application to the High Court against the Local Plan within 6 weeks.
At that time the Working Group were awaiting and assessing pieces of information from different sources. Once collated the Group then took legal advice from various sources and were advised that we did not have a case to make an appeal to the High Court.
Following discussion by the working group it was decided not to challenge the adoption of the Local Plan within the High Court the deadline for which expired last Friday 11th September.
The fact that the Local Plan was adopted as you all know was a blow to our Campaign, but it does not mean that our Campaign has ended. Completely the opposite.
We now have to await any future Planning Applications that developers may put forward, which I am certain will be met with strong objections from many residents.
The Inspectors Final Report also clearly identifies many section 106 commitments that any developer must meet both prior to and during any future development. This amounts to many 10’s millions £’s and as a Community WE will hold them accountable for every single one of those commitments at every single stage.
Our work continues and members of the Working Group have been attending most Council Meetings and whenever possible, highlighting our cause to Councillors.
The effects of the proposed development will have dire traffic implications along the entirety of the A194 between Whitemare Pool and into the heart of South Shields itself.
Councillors in all areas will be made aware of this. Our Campaign will continue and we will keep you informed as best we can, but please be ready to act at short notice should the need arise
Following what can only describe as a farcical debate on the Local Plan during the Meeting on 30th July, you will all be aware that the Local Plan was adopted by South Tyneside Council.
For those that did not attend or watch the meeting please click here to watch start from 20.10 on the link and you will see exactly how the debate progressed as well as the subsequent vote. Borough Council meetings – South Tyneside Council. Or you can read the Transcript of the meeting by clicking here.
This was a setback for the residences of Fellgate, and residences of the borough and of course, all members of the Save the Fellgate Green Belt, This is not the end of the Campaign.
The Working Group have been working ‘behind the scenes’ for the past few months, gathering information from a wide variety of sources and are now piecing this work together.
We met up earlier today to discuss what we can do next. As stated earlier we are currently piecing information together and once this is complete we can then determine whether we have a strong enough case to make an appeal to the High Court, the deadline date of which is 11th September. This however will be costly, and funding would need to be sought via fundraising, donations etc:
If it is felt that we did not have a strong enough case, then as a Campaigning Group we all would challenge at all stages, such as Planning Applications, site design, infrastructure proposals, traffic and public transport, in fact all proposals that are put forward by developers.
As a Campaigning Group we all would ensure that developers are held to account for every single modification that the Inspector has highlighted in his Final Report in order to ensure that the viability of the proposed development, will eat into their profits following the Act of Environmental Vandalism and Wanton Destruction that they are attempting to impose on the Fellgate Green Belt. This may then make the development unviable to prospective developers
Our Campaign Continues and we will keep you informed as often as possible. In order to get a feel for your views, would you please send a message via the Contact Us page, how you feel and any suggestion for the way forward.
Click here to read ongoing and unresolved concerns
Click here to read all of the SP8 Modifications and status
The Local Plan was voted on at the Full Council meeting, and the the result was:
In favor to adopt the the Local Plan.
We are devastated at this result.
We will now take stock of our options and will be report back here as soon as possible.
Now that this examination has concluded, and we all agree that the result is a massive disappointment to the community.
Our campaign will now move to a process of Oversight, Scrutiny, Vetting, Audit and Answerability.
The baseline checking for the campaign starts with SP8 Main Modifications. At each stage we will process the proposals, the debates, and actions against the criteria contained within the Main Modifications and we will lobby all councillors where we can prove that they are failing to deliver the Main Modification to the Local Plan.