The Parish Council continues to represent residents concerns around development north of the village on the airport, including two new/updated planning applications…
Plans
Initial plans for the airport were included in the Rushcliffe Local Plan, opposed by TABU and the Parish Council over ten years ago. The Local Plan is now due to be replaced by the Greater Nottinghamshire Strategic Plan. Rushcliffe Borough Council has previously conducted a number of consultations on the Strategic Plan – and the Parish Council submitted robust comments – and the Plan is now being examined by the planning inspector. The Parish Council continues to observe progress with the examination and has requested the opportunity to meet the examiner as part of the examination.
Residents can follow the process online… https://www.localplanservices.co.uk/gnspexamination
SPD or Masterplan
The next level of plan is the masterplan or SPD. This is suppose to provide further detail of site wide provisions that then shape and guide the finer detail provided through planning applications. The Parish Council has repeatedly set out that this should include detail of issues such as roads, flooding, green buffer and contaminated land.
Last year the Parish Council submitted formal complaints to Rushcliffe Borough Council about the way that the master plan was developed, in particular the quality of the consultation. Rushcliffe Borough Council’s complaint process failed to resolve the Parish Council’s concerns and provided an escalation to the Local Government Ombudsman. After careful consideration parish councillors agreed to refer the Borough Council to the Ombudsman, a slow process which takes weeks to progress. Recently the Ombudsman has notified the Parish Council that it can not consider complaints from public bodies contrary to the signposting provided by Rushcliffe Borough Council. The Ombudsman has not commented on the issues set out in the complaint which have been resubmitted by a parish councillor so that it can be considered from an individual. The response from the Ombudsman can be read below.
In March Rushcliffe Borough Council approved the masterplan/SPD. The Parish Council is clear that this document is substandard and still fails to address the concerns of residents. As Rushcliffe Borough Council has approved the SPD the only potential route to change the masterplan is through a judicial review in court. This is a significant undertaking with high cost and high risk, however the Parish Council continues to explore options for challenging the masterplan in the courts.
The masterplan/SPD is also supposed to be accompanied by an infrastructure plan which Rushcliffe Borough Council have yet to publish or consulted on.
Planning applications
Through March and April two new planning applications have been published – despite the absence of an infrastructure plan.
The first is a scoping application from the County Council for land held by them north of the village and close to the Lings Bar. This application asks Rushcliffe Borough Council about the ‘scope’ of a future application and issues it would expect to be considered. Unhelpfully the application is titled Gamson and the Parish Council is grateful for the help of County Councillor Richard Butler in getting the address changed to Tollerton so that this application is more accessible and transparent to residents. The Parish Council has submitted concerns with the masterplan as part of this application as requirements that need to be answered through any application.
The application can be found on the planning portal by searching for 26/00512/SCOEIA
Vistry has also submitted an application for the first phase of development. This is a hybrid application in that it seeks full permission for 381 dwellings and outline planning permission for the remaining development on the land that they own. Despite the vast array of documents residents have just four weeks to respond. Further advice on how to respond and issues for residents to consider will be published by the parish council online and councillors are seeking further advice from our planning consultants on how best to respond.
The application can be found on the planning portal by searching for 24/00347/HYBRID
Contaminated land
The Parish Council continues to support residents of Tollerton Park who are seeking information from Rushcliffe Borough Council and Rushcliffe Councillor Debbie Mason on progress arranging further investigations into potential contaminated land around their homes. The Parish Council is keen to see Rushcliffe Borough Council provide a timeline for this important work.
Proposed development behind Burnside Grove
This application has now been refused by Rushcliffe Borough Council. The grounds for the refusal appear robust – referencing inconsistencies with the Local Plan, Tollerton Neighbourhood Plan and Highway issues – however the applicant does have the ability to appeal the refusal. Thank you to all the residents that engaged in this process and provided unique, sensible comments on the application. On this occasion they have been successful and similar efforts may be needed in response to applications to the north of the village.
Response from the Ombudsman