Public Consultation on Ruddington’s housing plans – 17th October, St Peter’s Rooms 4-8pm

Following the recent scare that the fate of Ruddington’s Green Belt was to be decided on 12th September, we now have been informed of further consultation on Local Plan Part 2:Preferred Housing Sites.

Consultation on the Local Plan will commence on Monday 9 October 2017 and finish at 5pm on Monday 27 November 2017 with an exhibition event to be held at St Peter’s Rooms, Tuesday 17th October 4-8pm. 

This is great news, that there is still hope for guiding the Council to make appropriate decisions for the village however, it is essential that residents take this opportunity.  The last consultation attracted a disappointing 130 responses out of over 7,000 residents-  yet was still taken into account in decision making.

We have asked our representatives to re-alliterate concerns over RUD 1 as well as concerns that consultations are not being communicated effectively enough to gain what can be considered a representative response.

How to make your comments:

• At the event on the 17th October
• Via email  localdevelopment@rushcliffe.gov.uk
• Online (once made available) http://www.rushcliffe.gov.uk/planningpolicy/

What’s new?

During the meeting on the 12th it was unanimously voted to recommend the following:

Recommendation: 

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 still in line for the following housing allocations by 2028:-

 

The main concern here is that the plan and the main decisions to be made are regarding rescinding areas of Green Belt in Ruddington to make room for what is now nearly double the number of homes originally proposed. There are 4 areas in Ruddington that appear on the cards – most worryingly what is listed at RUD 1 – which still appears to included the covenanted land of Sellors’ Playing field.

We encourage everyone to once again take this opportunity to have their say.

Ruddington Green Belt could lose its Green Belt Status

Rushcliffe Borough Councillors will decide which sites in Ruddington will be removed from our Green Belt in order to make space for over 400 new homes on Tuesday 12th September.

Most notably, the report which the councillors will no doubt take into account identifies RUD1 ( Sellors’ Playing Field and the surrounding area) as land that should have its Green Belt Status removed. Should this happen, the controversial development of 180 homes could quite easily go ahead.

Protect Ruddington and The Ruddington Residents Association (RCA) that successfully secured the Sellor’s Playing Field as an Asset of Community Value urge residents to contact our council representatives ASAP for a final chance to have their voices heard. The RCA have written an open letter to the 3 councillors asking for their support.

“I have been asked to write to you on behalf of the Ruddington Community Association regarding the meeting, this Tuesday, on the future of the Green Belt in Rushcliffe.

There are a number of views around the future growth of housing on the Green Belt. The majority of our members are very concerned at building on any of the Green Belt which we believe is a significant step forward in diluting the village status of Ruddington. We do not believe that building in Ruddington is necessary for Rushcliffe to meet the targets set by Government. The decision to allow additional building on our local greenbelt is solely a decision of the Council. We have inherited this protected space and should consider the legacy we leave in making any decision.

Where members of Ruddington Community Association are unanimous is that the legacy of Sellors’ Playing Field should be respected, protected and cherished. This was a gift to the people of Ruddington through a covenant, not just for one generation but many. We believe it would be wrong for one generation to sell out this gift, at an entry point to the village, for future generations. We have gone so far as registering Sellors’ Playing Field as an asset of community value. A registration accepted by the Council and we are on the Council’s list of community assets.

Proposal for RUD1 does clearly include Sellors’ Playing Field in the withdrawal of Green Belt status and we would ask that this be amended.
Our strong preference is that RUD1 is rejected; if this is not the case we would ask that RUD1 is amended to exclude Sellors’ Playing Field and keep this in the protected Green Belt.
We would ask you as one of our local councillors to speak out against taking away part of our Green Belt and undermining our village identity.
We would hope your legacy as a councillor is to be seen to stand up for our village and not to have supported the dilution of our village identity and the undermining of a village asset.

Kind regards,

Ruddington Community Association”

You can read more about this and the other proposed sites by clicking here.