Frustrated Nottingham councillors have approved a 291-home scheme on the site of an old school following a lengthy planning meeting during which serious concerns for the environment were raised. Plans will, however, be subject to assurances that the benefits to the environment will be maximised by the developer.
Plans for 291 homes on the former Padstow School site in Bestwood were brought to the table during a city council planning committee meeting at Loxley House on Wednesday, April 20. Councillors were less than pleased with the impact on the environment and the debate over whether or not the scheme should proceed lasted almost two hours.
The developer, Countryside, had already cut down the number of homes on the site from 294 to 291 and 75 (25%) will be handed over to Nottingham City Homes to be used as council houses. While these proposals were praised in this regard, councillors became aggrieved over the lack of willingness for 'green corridors' to be retained on the "important space".
Read more: 130 council homes planned in Bestwood near site of Padstow School
Labour councillor Sally Longford, who represents Lenton and Wollaton East, said it was "sad to see a loss of green space". Her concerns were echoed by fellow ward councillor Pavlos Kotsonis.
"I do not recognise the verges with a tree in it as a green corridor so I don't see the north-south route as an effective green corridor," she said. "It is too broken up. It is not satisfactory."
Plans from the developer on the council-owned site had retained chunks of green space, however green corridors in which wildlife can freely move around and plant life can grow without interruption from hard surfaces had not. This is due to the prevalence of driveways throughout the development.
While hedgehog fences, which allows free movement, had been proposed, councillors argued it was not sufficient. Officers argued the plans were "in-line" with the council's own policies, but councillors shook their heads.
Councillor Longford, who is also the portfolio holder for the environment, added: "I've been in discussions with the planners and the [Nottinghamshire] Wildlife Trust and the Open Spaces Forum for months over this and we seem to have made very little progress.
"Ensuring that we have the development of a diverse ecosystem and we have less hard surfacing. This is crucial because all we have at the moment is a bit of verge, a tree and a driveway."
Meadows councillor and chairman of the committee, Michael Edwards, said the issue had proven "an obvious problem" for the committee. Officers were asked if it was in councillors' remits to ask for a redesign of the scheme, but they advised against such a fundamental change for fears it could hinder progress.
Graham Chapman, the vice-chair and Aspley ward councillor, said: "I know now where we stand and we have got the ability to ask the officers to go away," he added. "I would be very reluctant to turn the scheme over. We have to remember we need to build houses and my inclination would be to use their best endeavours to try and create a better corridor on the layout."
Council planning officer Nigel Turpin replied to say: "Context is crucial here and the typography is crucial. There is a lot of open space here but a lot of it is dictated to us by the typography and the ability to build on this particular area.
"That is really one of the main areas of how we have come to this layout includes viability and capital receipt for the council we have got our eye on as well and some things do have to give. We feel the green corridor, as well as all the other bits of open space on this site, is more than we would usually give."
It was deemed a fundamental redesign would have serious implications on the outcome of the development. As such it was decided it would be approved, but approval would be delegated to the director of planning, in consultation with further endeavours with the chairman of the committee, councillor Edwards, alongside councillor Longford and the leader of the opposition, councillor Kevin Clarke, of the Clifton independents.
This means the development is technically subject to further assurances over the benefits to the site ecology. But a fundamental redesign remains very unlikely and instead, planning officers will now seek to get the developer to maximise its work on the environment on the existing plans.
