Ruddington’s green spaces have seen significant shrinkage over the past few years as a result of infill housing within our village and, most recently, because of the ‘Rushcliffe Local Plan Part 2’.
Not only was planning permission granted by Rushcliffe Borough Council (RBC) in 2020 for hundreds of new homes on four large areas of our village’s former Green Belt, developers are also continuing to benefit from ‘windfall’ land which wasn’t originally included but had its ‘protected’ status removed at the same time.
So far this has allowed a significant expansion of Balmore Country House Care Home into previously Green Belt land, followed by 24 more dwellings being approved on ‘spare land’ behind the care home to boost William Davis’s ‘Lace Fields’ development from 180 to 204 new houses. There’s also been an outline planning application for 36 further new homes on land at ‘Croft House’, next door at 211, Loughborough Road (below).
If these 36 new dwellings are approved at ‘Croft House’, the grand total of houses being built on Ruddington’s former Green Belt will have ballooned from 250 to 643 – all as a consequence of RBC implementing its ‘Local Plan’ just four years’ ago.
Of course, some residents may well see this ‘infilling’ of remaining ‘pockets’ of land more desirable than spreading out into further open countryside around Ruddington. However, that’s a distinct possibility as well, with further planning applications being prepared for more development on our remaining Green Belt by Bloor Homes’ for ‘Fairham Green Phase Two’ plus an archery range and sports fields by Wilford Bowmen and West Bridgford Hockey Club, both further along Wilford Road.
Meantime, long-suffering motorists have been infuriated by how the major traffic disruption caused by the Loughborough Road/Kirk Lane/Flawforth Lane roadworks (due to agreed, major junction improvements for all the current new housing) has been allowed to go on, almost unabated, since last summer.
Eyebrows have also been raised about RBC granting planning permission for some new builds and rebuilds within or near Ruddington’s historic Conservation Area which perhaps appear ‘unsympathetic’ to their immediate surroundings.
Going back a few years, a previous Ruddington development, built in the ‘noughties’, left parents and children carefully making their way alongside a dangerous stretch of narrow pavement on Clifton Road for over a decade – until campaigners finally secured the construction of a safe footpath and cycleway into the Pasture Lane estate (pictured below) which arguably should have been built at the time.
In more recent times, Ruddington residents have witnessed an historic hedgerow ripped out by a housing developer ‘in error’ and a goal net removed from a long established playing field because children’s footballs were occasionally going astray towards new houses recently built in the former agricultural land behind it.
To try to address issues such as those highlighted above, Rushcliffe Borough Council has revealed it’s preparing its own new ‘Design Code’ to set out quality and standard rules for new developments. Residents, local interest groups, design professionals and developers are invited to have our say on the proposed guidance before the end of this month.
The approved Rushcliffe Design Code will set out the expectations of developments such as a roof extension on a house, new supermarket, apartment block or a large housing development.
It will cover a range of topics including:
- How new and existing developments should be connected for example through footpaths and roads
- The position of new buildings and their size and scale
- The design of public spaces
- Landscape around new buildings such as green spaces and tree planting
- Detailed design of new homes and other buildings
Designers, architects and developers will have to follow the Design Code when bringing forward new developments in the Borough. RBC hopes the code will provide more certainty for communities such as Ruddington about the design of new development, raise design standards and support the Council in determining planning applications.
RBC’s Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Planning and Housing Cllr Roger Upton says: “We want to hear from residents, local interest groups, design professionals and developers on what makes Rushcliffe a great place to live and how we can raise the design quality of new development.
“This project is a chance to re-think what characteristics and qualities in new developments should be brought forward to reflect what the residents of Rushcliffe would like to see.”
He adds: “Please take the time to fill in our consultation where you can share your views and help shape our Design Code for future of design in the Borough.”
Villagers can access RBC’s online survey, and share your views, at https://www.rushcliffe.gov.uk/designcode until Thursday 29th February 2024.
