By Jamie Waller, Local Democracy Reporter
A plan for council homes to be built on a recreation ground is due to get final approval next week, despite 500 signatures on a petition against it.
Ashfield District Council hopes to build 40 affordable homes on Hardwick Lane recreation ground in Sutton.
The council’s Cabinet will have the final say on Monday (September 16) after planning permission was granted last month.
The Ashfield Independent-run authority says new social homes are urgently needed to reduce the 4,000-long waiting list.
But campaigners have fought to protect the 100-year-old green space, saying new homes should be built elsewhere.
A public consultation was carried out in June 2023 as a legal requirement to using the site for housing.
A total of 68 local residents raised objections, with many complaining about the loss of a natural area and the impact on their wellbeing.
A total of 568 people also signed a petition against developing the recreation ground, which is often used for dog walking, exercise and as a play area.
The plans include a mixture of two-to-four-bedroom housing, flats and bungalows, with the latter having ground-floor bedrooms and bathrooms for wheelchair users.
The council has been awarded £2.3m from Homes England, and will pay the remaining £5.4m costs.
A report going before Cabinet next week says development on greenfield sites is necessary to keep up with the demand for social housing.
“The council is committed to building on brownfield sites, and to date all of the 100 plus new homes built in the last four years have been on such sites: typically old garage and plot sites, under-utilised car parks and overgrown scrubland,” it says.
“The council will continue to develop such sites but very few council-owned sites remain.
“Other, privately owned brownfield sites are under active consideration but finding sites that are suitable, affordable, and that the owner is interested in selling are few and far between.”
According to figures in the report, it receives 50 new housing applications every week, and more than 200 people regularly bid for vacant homes.
If approved at the cabinet meeting, the land will be transferred to the council’s social housing arm.
Councillor Tom Hollis (Ash Ind), the authority’s deputy leader and cabinet member for strategic housing, previously said: “The Twitchell Park and Sutton Lawn are only minutes away.
“They are just two of the parks we have invested millions in across Ashfield.
“What we are talking about is dozens more council homes that would transform the lives of even more families.
“Hardwick Rec has remained derelict for years and therefore developing it is the right thing to do.”
