Expansion planned at Hexham's Egger factory

The firm, based at Grange Road, Anick, is also seeking ancillary office accommodation, 42 additional car parking spaces and landscaping. It says the development would allow it to employ an additional 45 permanent staff over the next three years and create between 100 and 150 indirect jobs.

The application has been subject to two consultation exercises following amendments made after the first.

Objections have been submitted by Sandhoe Parish Council on the basis that the site is green belt land, and reserved for future economic development.

The parish has also raised concerns over the low number of jobs generated, the road infrastructure proposed being inadequate, noise and visual impact.

The county council also received 12 letters of objection from members of the public on the initial application, two of which are from groups of residents from Hexham, Anick, Oakwood and Sandhoe.

A further five letters were submitted in response to the amended scheme, including one from a band of 40 residents from Hexham, Oakwood and Anick.

Residents echo the concerns of the parish council and also say the development is too big for the site and would be harmful to tourism.

Objections to the initial scheme were also submitted by the Environment Agency and the county council's department for health and public protection but both were withdrawn following Egger's amendments.

The county council's West area planning committee is next Thursday being recommended to give authority to its director of development and regulatory services to grant conditional permission, subject to referral to the Government Office for the North East.

That referral is because approving the application would represent a departure from the council's development plan on the issue raised by the Sandhoe council, of the proposed site being reserved for future economic development.

Next Thursday's meeting takes place in the council chamber at Prospect House, Hexham, from 6pm.

Egger declined to comment ahead of the meeting.