Councillors 'call in' plans to fell 12 trees to make way for £1m clubhouse in Ponteland, saying they want to debate application

Ponteland Rugby Club and Ponteland United FC set up a joint company earlier this year to create the new facility.

The rugby club needs it because it is the only one in Northumberland not to have its own changing rooms and social facilities, and the football club cannot progress further up the national leagues without them.

The building would be located on land between the rugby and football pitches, where the car park for the old Ponteland Leisure Centre used to be, and next to the new state-of-the-art school and sports centre.

But to make space for it, 12 trees need to be removed.

The clubhouse committee therefore submitted an application to Northumberland County Council to vary the conditions of the planning permission for the school and sports centre, which states no more trees on the site can be felled.

But despite promising to plant at least 24 replacement trees, the application was turned down and a second application submitted in September was set to go the same way.

Both applications were determined by council officers under ‘delegated powers’, but now councillors have intervened and said they want to be able to debate and decide on the matter instead.

They say the application is of “significant local interest”, so it will now go before the strategic planning committee next month.

Rugby club president David Comesky said: “We look forward to the opportunity for the committee to review our aims and aspirations for the clubhouse project, and hopefully they will decide it’s worthwhile for these trees to be moved.”

The clubhouse committee plan to replant at least 24 new trees and if Mr Comesky has his way, he would like to plant an extra seven – “one for each decade of Queen Elizabeth’s reign”.

He added: “We would not be taking these trees out if there was another viable option. The last thing we want to do is impact on the environment, but we think we can also enhance it.”

The application will be discussed on February 7, and has attracted nearly 400 comments of support from members of the public.

There are also around 20 objections, including one from June Atkinson, of Dunsgreen, who has lived in Ponteland since 1964. She recently posted 120 leaflets through people’s doors informing them of the clubhouse committee's intentions.

She said: “As a governor of our Church Primary School, I urge you to protect the legacy which these children will inherit. It is not only the trees themselves, it is the birds, flora and fauna which must not be endangered by the removal of the habitat.

“The loss of trees – which act as a protective barrier from the prevailing wind – also increases the possibility of damage to Mayfair Gardens in particular.”

Should the clubs win planning permission and raise the money needed for the clubhouse, Northumberland County Council has said it will transfer ownership of the land free of charge.

A crowdfunding appeal for the £1m has been suspended until the planning issues are ironed out, but Mr Comesky said the project had secured support from private sponsors and “one major benefactor”.