By Andrew Topping, Local Democracy Reporter
Cash to improve community facilities will be directed to Ashfield rather than Mansfield after councillors approved 235 homes on the border of both districts.
Ashfield District Council’s planning committee has approved outline planning permission for the new homes on Cauldwell Road, off the A60 in Mansfield.
The development will see the homes built on the former Rushley Farm green space, directly to the south of Vision West Nottinghamshire College.
The majority of the site sits within Ashfield, except for a small portion of its northeastern boundary, which lies in the Mansfield district.
Nottinghamshire County Council has put forward the plans alongside its developer Arc Partnership.
The Conservative-run council owns the land and plans to use it for housing, with money from a future developer to go into the authority’s budgets.
However, concerns were raised in a meeting on Wednesday (March 22) about some of the cash contributions being directed towards Mansfield facilities.
This included £8,288 for new books at Mansfield Library and £14,356.03 for a new recycling centre in the town.
The committee asked for this cash to be directed toward Ashfield facilities as a condition for their votes to approve planning permission.
It was then approved with six votes in favour and one abstention.
Councillor Jason Zadrozny (Ash Ind), the council’s leader, said in the meeting: “I will vote to refuse the application and request my members to do so unless we change this [financial] agreement.
“I would like the money from libraries to go to Sutton-in-Ashfield Library. If the money is going to be used for improvements to a council recycling centre, to be used at the one in Kirkby-in-Ashfield.”
Cllr Samantha Deakin (Ash Ind), who represents Central Sutton and New Cross, added: “These residents will be paying their council tax to Ashfield District Council because they will live in Ashfield.
“So, let’s improve the facilities within the Ashfield district.”
In response, Christine Sarris, a senior planning officer at the authority, said the agreement “will be changed” to reflect the councillors’ concerns.
But she said: “From a planning perspective, we normally want to improve the facilities that are nearest to the development.”
No detailed proposals have been put forward for the site, with Wednesday’s meeting only approving the principle of using the land for housing.
Plans for access, design, scale and layout will need to be approved during future reserved matters planning applications.
However, early drawings suggest the scheme could be accessed via two entry points on either side of the opposite entrance to the college.
Speaking in the meeting, Cllr Matt Relf (Ash Ind), ward councillor for the area, suggested road improvements may be needed along the nearby A60.
He said: “On the Mansfield side of things, the [A60/Cauldwell Road] junction is a nightmare at the best of times.
“It would be good for the county council to turn that junction into a roundabout – or some other form of junction – to ease flow around there.
“It is a dangerous junction and, with the additional traffic this could cause, I think it would benefit having a highways improvement.”
The developer contribution scheme includes £1,498 per home towards road improvements, totalling £352,000.
And Cllr Keith Girling (Con), the county council’s cabinet member for asset management, previously said: “An independent transport assessment … showed traffic from the site can be accommodated.
“The A60/Cauldwell Road junction is in line for an upgrade, with the assessment showing a limited impact on Derby Road.”
Other financial contributions include £127,340.63 for healthcare, £83,728 for special educational needs and £235,000 for public open space.
Documents reveal the open space cash was already allocated for the Ashfield district.
