Asher Lane Planning Inquiry Concludes

Today was the final day of the Public Inquiry into the appeal against the decision by Rushcliffe Borough Council to refuse planning permission for 175 homes off Asher Lane. After the first two days on Tuesday and Wednesday, proceedings got underway again yesterday morning (19th April) at Rushcliffe Arena with evidence from Neil Bennison, a Highways Consultant, on behalf of the appellant, Space Foods Ltd. The afternoon session heard evidence from Richard Mapletoft, Planning Policy Manager, and Kirsty Catlow, Area Planning Officer – both for Rushcliffe Borough Council – and…

Update from the Asher Lane Inquiry

The Public Inquiry into the refusal by Rushcliffe Borough Council to grant planning permission for the building of 175 homes off Asher Lane in Ruddington began yesterday (Tuesday 17th April) at Rushcliffe Arena under the appointed Inspector, Nick Fagan. After opening speeches by Counsel for both sides, the first person to give evidence was Ruddington Parish Councillor Paul Reedman who made a statement against allowing the appeal, issued jointly by Ruddington Parish Council and Ruddington Action Group, before answering questions from the Inquiry. Rushcliffe Borough Councillors Jean Greenwood, Martin Buckle…

Asher Lane Appeal Hearing

Residents on Ruddington’s Musters Road estate and along Asher Lane will find out this week whether a property developers’ appeal against the refusal of adjacent Green Belt housing will be successful. Following Rushcliffe Borough Council’s decision to refuse an outline planning application for 175 homes off Asher Lane in April 2017, the applicants Space Foods Ltd lodged an appeal with the Planning Inspectorate – reference number APP/P3040/W/17/3185493. The appeal is actually against the refusal of the land owners’ ORIGINAL plans (below) with two access points off Asher Lane – rather than the revised…

Residents’ Group Seeks Housing Objections

A few weeks’ ago we reported how Space Foods Ltd has submitted revised plans to Rushcliffe Borough Council (RBC) for outline planning permission to build 175 new homes on Green Belt land it owns south of Musters Road – with access off Musters Road. This is even before this April’s Public Inquiry triggered by Space Foods’ appeal to the Planning Inspectorate against RBC refusing the previous version of these plans – with the access originally proposed off Asher Lane. The planned new access off Musters Road would require the demolition of an existing dwelling which is now owned by the…

Parish Council Favours “Southern Gateway” Housing

Ruddington Parish Councillors have voted in favour of recommending  just ONE additional site for potential Green Belt homes – off the A60 Mere Way roundabout (pictured). It follows the Annual Parish Meeting last night during which members of the public were invited to ask questions and comment on a further FOUR sites which Rushcliffe Borough Council has identified for possible new greenfield housing developments in Ruddington. These are shown as RUD11, RUD12, RUD13 & RUD14 on their latest map (below) adding to ten original sites aiming to accomodate “at least another 250 houses” on our Green Belt by 2028. You can…

Another New Homes Plan for Asher Lane

Rushcliffe Borough Council says it’s received revised plans this week to build 175 new dwellings on Ruddington’s greenbelt north of Asher Lane. These have again been lodged by land owners Space Foods Ltd. It follows their first application just over two years ago for 250 houses on the same site.  At that time a public meeting was held by Ruddington Parish Council who pro-actively supported villagers with objections to building there. Ruddington Action Group was also formed to lobby against it. On that occasion 903 comments were received – with 896 people objecting to the proposal and only…

£336k of Ruddington Schools’ Cash to Expand Edwalton Academy!

Late last year we reported how Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC) had indicated the expansion of Rosecliffe Spencer Academy in Edwalton (top photo) would be the focus of its efforts to accommodate an increasing population of Ruddington children, rather than creating more school places here. This has now been confirmed in a ‘response’ from NCC to last summer’s petition by village resident Katie Santana on behalf of aggrieved parents in Ruddington. To their surprise and dismay at the time, a number of families living here found their children couldn’t get a place…

Historic Hedgerow Ripped Out “in Error”

The house-builder currently constructing 175 new properties on former Ruddington Green Belt south of Musters Road says a contractor removed a large section of mature hedgerow there by mistake. Gardeners from ‘Buttercup Allotments’ off Asher Lane were alerted to the totally unexpected loss of their boundary hedge when a contractor working for Avant Homes suddenly starting digging it out on Maundy Thursday. When the allotments’ owner Brian Booker rushed onsite to challenge them, protesting that removal of this hedgerow was definitely not in Rushcliffe Borough Council‘s approved plans for ‘Wilbur Chase’,…

Council Pledges to Enhance Our Hedgerows

This week, three of Britain’s biggest conservation charities – The National Trust, World Wildlife Fund and RSPB – have announced they’re joining forces to try to halt the destruction of UK nature using Sir David Attenborough’s ‘Save Our Wild Isles’ campaign as their inspiration. Part of this battle is happening very close to home, as Rushcliffe Borough Council (RBC) pledges to improve the hedgerow network in and around Ruddington to protect our local wildlife and help tackle the ‘climate emergency’ it declared in March 2019. The authority says it is now working closely with…

Residents’ Concerns Over Second Planning Breach

Villagers living close to the ‘Wilbur Chase’ housing development in Ruddington say they’re very concerned that the property builder could soon be allowed to get away with another serious infringement of its planning conditions for the new estate. Avant Homes (Midlands) is currently constructing 175 new houses on our former Green Belt, south of Musters Road, on what used to be 15.89 acres of farmland. Residents first complained to Rushcliffe Borough Council (RBC) in September last year when the developer began allowing households to move in to the first of its completed new properties…