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 read all the background >>HERE<<.
Although the public consultation period has now ended, Ruddington Parish Council reached agreement with Rushcliffe Borough Council that it could delay its own response until after last night’s meeting (11th April).
Councillors listened to concerns of villagers who’d gathered in St Peter’s Rooms – including representatives from Ruddington Action Group (primarily set up to oppose recently rejected housing plans on Asher Lane) and from Protect Ruddington (formed in response to Parish Council proposals to sell off Sellors’ Recreation Ground and build new housing, a new village hall and new playing fields on RUD1 & part of RUD2) and other residents.
During last year’s consultation Parish Councillors had voted unanimously to reject RUD2 as a planning site but favoured RUD1, RUD5, RUD6, RUD9 and RUD10. Most considered that RUD3, RUD4, RUD7 & RUD8 would not be suitable.
But at this latest meeting only the four newly added sites RUD11 to RUD14 were under discussion – details of which can be downloaded >>HERE<<.
Of these options only RUD13 is to be put forward by councillors as a preferred site – since it already has a roundabout (linking to Mere Way) and access straight out on to Loughborough Road at the southern gateway of our village. It could accommodate around 170 new homes. It’s also not considered by Rushcliffe Borough Council to be part of the strategically important area of Green Belt between Ruddington and the main urban area. Conversely, land to the north and west of our village in particular is thought not to be favoured by the Borough for any further large developments – due to the danger of coalescence with suburban Nottingham and Clifton – which would rob Ruddington of its village identity.
For Ruddington, the Core Strategy originally set a target of a minimum of 250 new homes to be built on our greenfield sites up to 2028. It seems there are, as yet, no sites already built or with planning permission which would count against this target. The most worrying statement for village residents on this latest RBC document is that “It may now, in light of the current shortfall in the amount of land available for housing development over the next few years, be necessary for the village to accommodate more homes than the minimum 250 home requirement.” It then goes on to say “The total amount of land that Local Plan Part 2 will identify as suitable for housing development will, ultimately, be dependent on a range of factors including the capacity of local facilities (e.g. schools, doctors’ surgery) and infrastructure (e.g. local roads) to sustain new homes, the potential physical impact of development on locations around the village, including how the Green Belt would be affected, and how quickly particular sites would be able to deliver new homes.”
However, both public and councillors appeared to be unanimous in their view that the 250 new homes to be accommodated on greenfield sites in Ruddington up to 2028 was “plenty” – the maximum number our creaking village infrastructure could take. Interestingly, if RUD13 was to be combined with the previously favoured RUD5 (40 homes) and RUD6 (30 homes) – perhaps with a new access road linking between them to Flawforth Lane – that would bring the total to around 240 potential new homes.
It’s likely there’ll now be another significant “pause” whilst Rushcliffe Councillors gather in the results from both the latest and previous consultation and debate what happens next. However it seems inevitable that some of Ruddington’s precious Green Belt will be rescinded eventually. It’s just a question of WHERE and WHEN?
