An important meeting on the future of Ruddington’s Green Belt is being held in St Peter’s Rooms from 7.30pm tonight (Tuesday 14th November).
Villagers are strongly encouraged to go along to give their views to Ruddington Parish Council on what its response should be to Rushcliffe Borough Council‘s Local Plan Part 2 consultation.
Ruddington’s rural perimeter is now threatened with around 410 new homes – that’s 64% more properties than first proposed. The latest Rushcliffe Borough Council (RBC) consultation, which runs until November 27th, is on the suitability of the remaining FOUR out of fourteen Green Belt sites originally earmarked by RBC in its revised Local Plan for future housing development.
You can read all the background >>HERE<<.
The agenda for tonight’s meeting is >>HERE<<.
The current shortlist (see latest map above) was approved at an RBC Cabinet meeting in September at Rushcliffe Arena when, without discussion, the five members unanimously rubber-stamped the recommendation (below) of the “Local Plan Part 2: Preferred Housing Sites” report about which areas of the historic Green Belt in Rushcliffe should be rescinded:-
“It is RECOMMENDED that Cabinet
a) Supports the proposed housing and mixed use site allocations as recommended in the report;
b) Supports publication of the proposed housing and mixed use site allocations for the purposes of public consultation; and
c) Delegates authority to the Executive Manager-–-Communities, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing, to determine the form of consultation and the detail of the main consultation document.”
This means that Ruddington is now in line for the following housing allocations by 2028:-
In theory, other sites (see map above) from the original consultations are now “off the table”. However RBC Chairman Simon Robinson moved to “implore councils and groups to have their say and make their comments known in the next consultation stage”. Deputy leader Debbie Mason was keen to stress that the sites put forward for development in the proposed plan were done so by Parish Councils, land owners and farmers among other sources. But RBC want to “put people of Rushcliffe in control of the plan and not the developers.” So, if you think one of the sites dropped should still be included, NOW’s the time to say! Alternatives may yet be needed to fulfil the housing quota if one or more of the final four suggested sites is rejected.
Some residents are claiming that the whole consultation process is flawed and should be started again – because not all sixteen Green Belt areas were consulted upon at the same time. Additionally, rejected sites RUD15 and RUD16 (illustrated above) were not actually consulted upon at all.
The Ruddington Community Association asserts that RUD1 should not even be considered for building on because it includes the covenanted Sellors’ Recreation Ground – which is registered as an Asset of Community Value – and so is urging villagers to reject that option completely. Meantime Ruddington Action Group is particularly unhappy with our village’s increased housing allocation from 250 to 410 new homes. Both groups have leafleted houses in the village with their concerns – encouraging residents to take part in RBC’s consultation.
The current online consultation on the Local Plan is now underway >>HERE<< and continues until 5pm on Monday 27 November. Alternatively you can >>DOWNLOAD<< a Response Form to fill in and mail in the post. OR you can simply email to localdevelopment@rushcliffe.gov.uk. However, since only around 130 of over SEVEN THOUSAND Ruddington residents actually took part in the original Local Plan Part 2 consultation last year, then around 70 in the second consultation earlier this year, statistics and comments gathered may again be rather limited unless many more local people get engaged this time around.
With this further public consultation on RUD1, RUD5, RUD11 and RUD13, it is hoped that a much greater number of villagers will realise how important it is to have their say before it’s too late. For residents who’re still unsure of RBC’s preferred sites to be allocated in the Local Plan all the documents are currently on display at Ruddington Library and can also be viewed online on the Borough Council’s website >>HERE<<. It is also hoped many will also attend tonight’s Parish Council Response meeting.
RBC Leader Simon Robinson has stated that he guarantees they WILL listen and “make the right decisions for Rushcliffe in the consultation.”
This really is one last chance for village residents! Please be sure to make your views known to both RPC and RBC on the vitally important issue of Ruddington’s precious Green Belt land. Be especially aware that posts on social media do NOT count. If you don’t comment to the right people at the right time then you can’t complain when houses get built where you didn’t want them! Remember the consultation deadline is Monday 27th November 2017.
