A planning application has been jointly submitted by the landowner (Mr Barrie Roberts) and the Parish Council to Rushcliffe Borough Council – the application reference is 24/01451/OUT.Planning officer is Gareth Elliot. Application documents, including the Parish Council's Outline Business Plan which is fundamental to any planning being permitted, are available to view on-line.
The application is in outline, but it is intended to fix the principle, number and layout of the scheme. Further detailed submissions will be undertaken where the detail, timescales and uses of the community area will be confirmed.
The application proposes that the 11 acre of community land is to be transferred to the Parish Council on receipt of approval. A fundamental and core requirement of both the Parish and Rushcliffe Borough Councils is that this transfer is effected immediately, automatically and irrevocably, simultaneously with planning being granted - these things being embodied in a binding legal agreement.
The Parish Council believes that this could be a once in a generation opportunity create a very significant place of calm, peace and community - an environment in which people, flora and fauna can flourish. So, if you want this to happen, please make Rushcliffe Borough Council aware of your views – either by email or on-line.
The Vision The Council is aware that, despite its apparently rural nature, the Parish (and those around it) is almost entirely surrounded by fields of monocrops bounded by rigorously cut blackthorn hedges, crossed by few footpaths and with no publicly accessible open space of any size. It is therefore poor in ecological diversity and public accessibility – to the detriment of both people and nature.
The Council therefore have the vision creating a large, publicly accessible, wildlife rich area along with a group of allotments as a haven and focal point for local people and wildlife. It is also part of the vision that the area will provide a place in which the community can meet, work and relax together whilst also providing a great educational asset to the young and old alike, not just of the immediate parish but those surrounding it. It will be a place of wellbeing, where flora and fauna can be encouraged to return and thrive to the benefit of all.
The Outline Business Plan
The Parish Council's Business Plan is presently an initial version only and will have to be considerably consulted upon with both the community and a wide range of actual and potential contributors, the allotment society and key conservancy organisations. The Initial Business Plan can be found here