By Lauren Monaghan, Junior Local Democracy Reporter
The future of a stretch of open land between two Nottinghamshire villages remains unclear after it was sold to a housing developer who refused to explain why it now plans to restrict any further public access to it.
The fields off Mount Pleasant, between Lowdham and Gonalston, are currently accessed by the public through rights of way including footpaths.
The area, south of a watercourse called Dover Beck and covering more than 100 acres, is popular with local people for exercise and dog walking.
A ‘notice of landowner deposit’ application was made by housing developer Langridge Homes Ltd on July 30 this year, and signs advertising the application were pinned to fence posts around the area.
The application means the company does not wish to grant any further public rights of way across the land in future – although this does not impact the legally-recorded rights of way already there.
Langridge Homes is a family-run business behind housing several developments in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
Based in Sherwood Rise, Nottingham, the company currently has developments in Ripley, Giltbrook, Calverton and Bestwood Village.
The notices have caused some concern among nearby residents over a potential future housing development – although no development has been confirmed. Langridge Homes did not respond to requests for comment when contacted by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).
Some people living nearby told the LDRS they feared any new development would worsen problems with flooding and traffic if the land was ever built on.
Nottinghamshire County Council is already running an improvement scheme that will add upgrades to five junctions along the A614 and A6097 to help reduce congestion in nearby areas.
The works total around £45.3 million, with improvements including the A6097 roundabout at Lowdham.
Paul Harrison is chairman of Lowdham Parish Council, but said he wanted to give his opinion as an individual village resident.
He said he’d spoken to a number of local people who are worried about the ‘landowner deposit’ notices.
He said: “I don’t think there’s an immediate threat, they’ve given the County Council and everybody notice that they’re trying to flush out any adverse rights.
“For people who live where it floods, it’s not just stream water, it’s water with mud and sewage, the sewage backs up and it floods the roads and houses.
“A lot of people have noticed, a lot of people have asked questions- it was discussed at a couple parish council meetings but I think it’s a long way away yet, with a lot of hurdles to get over.
“I think there is a great chance there would be a huge reaction to it [any potential development] and not in a positive way, the problem always everywhere is they’re not prepared to improve the infrastructure at the same time.”
Nottinghamshire County Councillor for Gonalston, Roger Jackson (Con), said: “[Houses] have got to go somewhere- the problem with Lowdham it’s difficult to find somewhere that doesn’t flood.
“A small development wouldn’t go amiss, a large one would be very difficult because the infrastructure, doctors, drainage- it’s at capacity at the moment and it would need a lot of things like that put in place before houses are built.
“It will have to go through the planning process- it’s a greenbelt, so I’m fairly confident it wouldn’t get through unless the government change the legislation.”
Land Registry records list at least a portion of the land as belonging to Ross Mason and Grant Mason.
Ross is named as a director of nearby Gonalston Farm Shop, which has remained closed since it was badly damaged by fire in September 2022.
But a land deposit can only be submitted by a landowner – meaning the Masons’ part of the land has been sold to Langridge, and the records on the Land Registry website are out of date.
The Masons did not respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for the Land Registry said: “We have received an application to transfer the land and it is currently being processed. This applications is one of the more complex types and will take slightly longer to process than some of our simpler work.
“No two applications are the same, but for this application type most are completed in about 12 months from being submitted but this can vary, dependent on a number of factors.”
A spokesperson for Nottinghamshire County Council said: “Only people who own the land, or an agent acting on behalf of the owner, can submit land deposits.
“These declarations are made by the landowner or landowners only to prevent the public from subsequently acquiring rights over their land such as a public right of way or a town/village green.”
Langridge Homes did not respond to requests for comment.
