TABU

An article appeared in the Nottingham Evening Post on the 16th July covering the current position in respect of new houses in Rushcliffe between now and 2026. For those residents who do not receive this paper the following comments were reported:
1. Over 50,000 new homes needed in Notts by 2026
2. 14,000 of these would be assigned to Rushcliffe. This figure is no different from that proposed by the previous government.
3. There is now in existence the Greater Nottingham Joint Advisory Planning Board on which Rushcliffe is represented together with the other five districts including Nottingham City. This board has to consider how the 50,000 should be allocated.

4. Rushcliffe’s Deputy Chief Executive, Paul Randle, has stated that a target of nearly 14000 houses ‘is not suitable for the area’.

5. All districts are now considering the numbers allocated to them by the planning board and Rushcliffe is working on a more realistic number and this review would hope to be completed by the end of the year.

RBC is hoping to appoint a developer of the Cotgrave Colliery site (470 houses) by January 2012 and the green light has already been given for the first phase of the Sharphill Wood development (357 houses).

Noel Marshall
Chairman
Tollerton Against Backdoor Urbanisation
(TABU)

World Cup dream is over for Nottingham following Fifa announcement.

The article in the Post, cited above, notes the following:

“there was a big risk that Nottingham would not have the money in time to build a World Cup stadium.

A draft study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, commissioned by the city council, says there was a “major funding gap” in building a new stadium at Eastcroft.

Nottingham City Council was planning to use the sale of land at Gamston and Tollerton to part-fund the scheme, but there were concerns Rushcliffe Borough Council would not grant planning permission to build on the land in time for the World Cup. This planning permission would increase the land value.

The stadium could have also been funded by the sale and redevelopment of the City Ground – as well as Meadow Lane if the two clubs shared the new stadium.

But, Councillor Jon Collins, leader of Nottingham City Council, said the council would have worked hard to find a funding package if England had been successful.

Despite the World Cup dream being over for Nottingham, a major housing development could still be built in Gamston and Tollerton.

Coun Collins said: “We’re facing very significant budget cuts, it’s really important we look at all our assets and make sure we are making the most of them. We’ve had our capital budget cut by half, we need to be looking at how we make that up and selling land is part of what we’re looking to do.”

He said it was not an “immediate priority” to sell the city council’s land in the Gamston area.

But he added: “Of course house builders are keen to develop in that area. We’re under an obligation to make the most of our assets.”

However, Diane Kidger, the chairman of Holme Pierrepont and Gamston Parish Council, said it was disappointing that the greenbelt could still be developed.

She added: “Perhaps not getting the bid would have taken off the pressure for the new houses but obviously it hasn’t.

“They’re now realising they’ve got to sell the family silver to support the budget cuts. I thought we might get a little bit of respite.”

She said there are many infrastructure problems that would need to be addressed if more houses are built.”

Planned development

Just when we thought, or hoped, it had all gone away the following headline appeared in the Nottingham Post on the 13th November.

’4,500 homes shock at cup stadium site’.
This refers to the areas immediately surrounding Tollerton.

The background to this story will be reported more fully in January but I can tell you that :

1. This development is planned irrespective of whether the World Cup Stadium is built at Gamston, or closer to the City Centre on London Road near to the Eastcroft incinerator. This alternative site was announced in August. A decision on the hosting of the World Cup for 2018 will be announced on the 2nd December by FIFA (football’s World Governing Body)
2. The article also reported the following  ‘The Post can also reveal that there are plans to build a new village at Nottingham Airport in Tollerton, with 1500 homes and a business park. This planning application has not yet been submitted to Rushcliffe Borough Council but officials and councillors have been briefed’ It is not known at the moment whether these 1500 homes are part of the 4,500 or additional making a total of 6000!!!  TABU will again be working closely with Rushcliffe Greenfields and will ensure that our village is kept fully informed of developments.

Noel Marshall
Chairman, Tollerton Against Backdoor Urbanisation

Rushcliffe Borough Council – The Big Picture – Consultation.

“By 2026, significant population and housing growth is likely to take place in Rushcliffe. This is because of a Government requirement that around a further 12,000 new homes need to be built. New jobs, shops, leisure facilities and infrastructure improvements will also have to be provided for. The Council has challenged this level of new homes and will continue to do so”

The new coalition Government has announced that the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) originally drawn up by the former Labour Government is to be shelved and responsibility for identifying suitable sites for housing development will be placed firmly in the hands, in our case, of Rushcliffe Borough Council. Previously Tollerton was threatened with an additional 4000 plus houses being built to the north of our village by 2026 much of which was to encroach on to precious green belt land.

Councillor Neil Clarke, Leader of RBC has already stated that his council will aim to protect this land wherever possible.

What is not known at this stage is just how many new houses Rushcliffe have to consider over the next 15/20 years but at least the decision will be influenced by local consultation rather than the previous imposed allocation and siting. In time the answers to these questions we hope will be released. In addition to our natural concern regarding housing development close to our village was a small matter of a new football stadium at Gamston. This project has been the ‘brainchild’ of Nottingham City Council and the Nottingham Forest Football Club much of which has been planned to be financed by the building of all these new houses close to our village. Now that the goal posts have been moved the likelihood of cash from these quarters has to be questioned and already the Nottingham City Council have announced that their plans could be ‘undermined’. It will not be until December this year when FIFA will announce where the World Cup competition for 2018 and 2022 will be played. The suspense
is killing, almost as bad as watching England play in this current competition!

Finally, there is always a sting in the tail! A recent press announcement from the Government has stated that “they are planning an overhaul of the Council Tax to fund the building of new homes for first time buyers and families. In future, local authorities who adopt the Nimby approach (Not in my back yard) to new developments will pay the price of their opposition in higher council tax bills”

What all of this means I am not quite sure but it is certainly something that we will hear more about in the future. So there we have it for the time being. The scene will be constantly changing over the next year and as one correspondent recently stated “we are in for  a long haul”
Noel Marshall, Chairman TABU
(Tollerton Against Backdoor Urbanisation)

(Original published in Tollerton Village Newsletter)

With the deadline now having passed for Rushcliffe to receive our response to the ‘imposed’ housing development close to Tollerton over the next sixteen years, the Borough Council now have the task of disseminating all our views and working to a timetable which is as follows:-

• September 2010 Draft response to planned developments to be available
• January 2011 Submit plans to Secretary of State
• April 2011 Public Hearings
• October 2011 Inspectors report published
• December 2011 Plans adopted
• March 2012 Plans published, building commences

In between all of this there is a small matter as to where a football stadium could be built if England and particularly Nottingham was chosen as a host venue. Football’s World Governing Body (FIFA) will be visiting our city this month (May) to view the proposed site at Gamston and a final decision will be announced at the end of the year for the selected country and cities involved.

Reverting to the housing issue, residents may remember that Nottingham City Airport (Tollerton Airport) was included as a possible area to accommodate some of the huge number of houses to be built. You will be interested to know that the owner of the airport has recently submitted a planning application for an extension in length to one of the runways! Where all of this figures in the longer term I have no idea but will be watching with keen interest.

And finally, you will have noticed that Morrisons, our local supermarket, is backing England’s bid for the Football World Cup not only locally but throughout the country. Incensed by this, one of our residents contacted their head office expressing his disgust and received the following reply. “….. due to the sensitivity you have mentioned we have removed the signature request stand from our Gamston store, but will continue to support ‘Back the Bid’ in all our other stores in England”. But they still appear to be publishing the backing on the till receipts.

One final bit of late news, as the two Ronnies would remark, if there is a change of Government on May 6th the current plans for housing development in our village would be scrapped! Presumably we shall then start all over again.

Happy Days!
Noel Marshall, Chairman TABU, 9372670

(Originally published in Tollerton Village Newsletter May 2010)

From Julian Smith

Paul Randle, Deputy Chief Executive, Rushcliffe borough Council says:

16.11.2009

The Government’s Regional Plan has set very challenging housing requirements for Rushcliffe. It requires the Borough to take 15,000 new homes between 2006 and 2026, and, as part of this requirement, for 10,600 homes specifically to be built in or around West Bridgford or on the edge of Clifton.

The Borough Council has yet to decide where major growth could be located across the Borough. However, given the sheer amount of new homes required, it seems clear that if the Regional Plan Requirement is to be met some land within the Green Belt would have to be built on.

The ‘Appraisal of Sustainable Urban Extensions’ study was undertaken for the whole of the Greater Nottingham area. It cost £70,000 but Rushcliffe Borough Council did not have to contribute to this cost. The Borough Council recognises that the study did, in conclusion, identify the land to the east of Gamston as unsuitable for development. However, although other sites are being considered for development, such as land to the south of Clifton, question marks exist as to whether these sites alone could met the Government’s housing requirements up to 2026, taking account of how many homes could physically be built on each site by that point in time. Ultimately, while the Regional Strategy exists, it is the Council’s responsibility to produce a Local Development Framework that will deliver the requirements of the strategy within the stated timescale.

From:  Rushcliffe Borough Council – The Big Picture – Where should we build houses?.

If you visit their website you can leave a comment…

The Big Picture Blog: What use is the greenbelt?

Author:Tony Stace

Tony Stace  joined The Big Picture bloggers on the Rushcliffe website. He works at Nottingham University and lives in the Gamston area of Rushcliffe.  He has proposed a set of issues related to keeping the greenbelt land.

visit  Rushcliffe Borough Council – The Big Picture – What use is the greenbelt?.

You can leave comments on their website…