Developers have given residents 15 days to submit their views on proposals for a 20% increase in the size of the village.
From 5 September residents of Tollerton may receive information from a housing developer regarding a proposal for housing north of Burnside Grove
The proposed development behind Burnside Grove would stretch from Oak Tree Court to Franklin Drive and would see 200 houses built in the green belt – adding substantially to the 900 homes currently in the village.
At this stage the “consultation” is being led by Heatons and Richborough Estates and no formal planning application has been made.
Importantly residents will have the opportunity to comment on the actual planning application when it is submitted to Rushcliffe Borough Council this autumn.
Having considered the information being sent to some (but not all) residents by the developers, Tollerton Parish Council is of the view that this “consultation” neither provides
- sufficient reasons to allow for intelligent consideration and response; or
- adequate time for consideration and response;
In particular parish councillors consider that the extremely short consultation period is inconsistent with meaningful consultation with residents.
Further information
Rushcliffe Housing Supply and Grey Belt
Seeking to justify the application in the green belt the developer has suggested that Rushcliffe Borough Council will be unable to demonstrate a five year housing supply – a requirement for existing planning rules to remain enforceable.
Previous failure to maintain a five year supply enabled building in communities such as East Leake contrary to the wishes of residents and the local neighbourhood plan.
A failure of Rushcliffe to maintain a five year supply could leave the green belt around Tollerton vulnerable to further applications, with a number of other land owners having previously indicated a willingness to put forward sites.
The developer is also proposing that the site should be considered as “grey belt” rather than green belt.
Changes to Government Policy mean that some existing green belt could be reviewed and labelled “grey belt” where certain requirements are met.
Rushcliffe Borough Council consulted over the summer on a framework – or rules – for future reviews of the green belt. Comments can be made on this up to Friday 12 September. The Parish Council anticipate a future review of the Green Belt after the new framework has been adopted which may impact the green belt around the village.
Statement from Tollerton Parish Council
If the developers genuinely want to use the views of residents to inform this planning application then they will go back to the drawing board and send out meaningful information, hold a public meeting and give people time to consider this and respond. Otherwise Tollerton residents will see this for what it is and conclude that it is a sham consultation.
It is also imperative on Rushcliffe Borough Council that they keep up with national planning policy and local housing supply. Communities have already seen the impact of Rushcliffe’s failure to do this in the past and it would be abhorrent to Tollerton Residents to take a double whammy of 4000 homes in the parish on the airport and 200 more in the village because the Borough Council failed to deliver its local plan in a timely manner.