By Andrew Topping, Local Democracy Reporter
The former headquarters of Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service will be turned into homes after the organisation completed its move to a new joint base with Nottinghamshire Police.
Gedling Borough Council has approved the homes plan, at Bestwood Park Drive, months after the fire service began vacating the building to move to the new £18.5m hub.
Now, the old site has been given planning approval for the main building to be demolished and replaced with 32 homes, split between 14 three-bedroom and 18 four-bedroom houses.
The development will start once the new HQ move has been completed, with all fire service facilities expected to be transferred to the joint Sherwood Lodge hub by November this year.
The fire service put forward the plans in an income-generating move, with documents confirming the development will be created as an “open and integral part of the local community”.
The homes, approved by the council’s planning committee on Wednesday (September 7), would continue to be accessed via the same entry point on Bestwood Park Drive.
However, concerns over the access road – varying between 5.5 and seven metres wide for a distance of 50 metres – were raised in the meeting, as well as the homes not being near shops, schools or public transport.
And issues were raised over the wider location of the homes and their potential impact on the nearby Bestwood Country Park.
Margaret Davenport, a resident who lives near the site, spoke in the meeting to object to the development.
She told councillors: “It would be obvious that 32 houses with no schools, shops or bus stops within walking distance – no amenities close at hand – would likely produce more than 60 cars and several daily journeys.
“This would not, in my view, be a reduction in traffic but a large increase.
“[The road is] an unsuitable width and would be dangerous for use with traffic when houses have been built and for construction traffic.
“It if goes ahead, the opportunities for the country park and its surrounding communities would also be lost forever.”
However, the fire service told the meeting the road would not be used as frequently as it was when the building was fully operational.
And the extra income generated from selling the homes will be pumped back into the organisation’s budgets to “benefit local communities”.
Terry Scott, a fire service spokesperson, told councillors: “Improvements to the safe pedestrian access up to the development will not only benefit future residents but also users of the neighbouring country park.
“When the HQ was fully operational, there were 150 members of staff working out of there and, on regular occasions, it hosted events with fire service vehicles accessing the site.
“This development provides capital receipt back into the fire service to fund future investments in the service, which will further benefit local communities.”
Once the HQ is completely vacated, all buildings will be demolished to make way for the new development.
Mr Scott added that 30 per cent of the homes will be marketed as ‘affordable’, with documents revealing this will include three first-time homes and seven low-rent properties.
The organisation will also be asked to provide developer contributions to mitigate the impact of the plans.
These include £145,506 in education contributions, £30,000 for school transport, £17,340 for healthcare and £53,890 for the maintenance of open spaces.
Speaking in the meeting, Councillor Mike Adams, leader of the Conservative opposition group, said: “[This is] brownfield development and I’m absolutely in favour of that.
“I think it looks like a very sensible site, it’s got good access and I think it will provide a fantastic local space surrounded by nice green surroundings in a good location.
“It’s a very positive development and I’m very happy to support it.”
The organisation’s move to the joint HQ came in a bid to share some services with Nottinghamshire Police and cut costs for both organisations.
A new control room was created in the ‘state-of-the-art’ three-storey building, off Burntstump Hill, north of Arnold.
The new centre also includes a training centre, changing rooms, a gym, a canteen and refurbished offices for the two emergency services.
