By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter
Part of a plan to allow hundreds of homes to be built on greenbelt land at a popular beauty spot in Nottinghamshire has been scrapped following pressure from residents and councillors.
Almost 1,000 people backed a campaign to stop the future development of housing on “beautiful” greenbelt land in Stoke Bardolph, just east of the Teal Close site.
Broxtowe, Gedling, Nottingham and Rushcliffe councils have been drafting a the Greater Nottingham Strategic Plan, which sets out potential housing development sites across the areas up to 2038 as to meet housing targets set by Government.
One site included land off Stoke Lane, where an extra 360 homes could have been built as an extension to the Teal Close development.
But Labour-led Gedling Borough Council’s plans to earmark the site for development came under intense scrutiny and councillors went back on them during a cabinet meeting on December 8.
Cllr Michael Payne (Lab), the deputy leader of the council, confirmed the land east of Teal Close would no longer be consulted on.
The amendment to the plan was unanimously voted for by cabinet members.
He said: “There was a famous economist called Paul Samuelson who once said that when the facts change, I change my mind.
“And the facts have changed. The facts have changed in the sense that we’ve had a ministerial statement made just a few short days ago by the new Secretary of State for Housing, Levelling Up and Communities.
“I just want to say this crystal clear, when the facts change this Labour-led cabinet and this Labour-led administration is willing to change its mind.”
In Gedling there is an expected population increase of 125,200 by 2030, and the Government had set the council a compulsory housing target for a least 7,950 homes to be built in the Gedling borough by 2038 to meet demand.
As such Gedling Borough Council argued such sites would be required to meet these targets, and emphasised 73 per cent of the borough remains greenbelt, while the last plan from 2018 only reduced the total by two per cent.
Trent Valley Conservative councillors Sam Smith and Mike Adams however feared for the loss of the land and raised concerns over flooding.
They said: “Once the green has been turned grey, it will never be back.”
During the meeting Cllr Payne accused the Conservative councillors of “scaremongering” about the loss off the greenbelt and said it had not been born out of facts.
He then went on to confirm the council’s U-turn on the plans, after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Government announced watered-down housing targets for local councils.
Some Conservative MPs grew concerned over the viability of the targets and branded them excessive.
He urged the Conservative Government to clarify its position on compulsory targets and continued: “The Government’s targets, its compulsory targets, mean that sites such as the greenbelt land to the east of Teal Close in Stoke Bardolph were put at risk for future housing development.
“However this Labour-led cabinet shares residents’ concerns about compulsory housing targets, set by the Conservative central Government, that do not properly take into account local views and local circumstances.
“We urge the Government and their Members of Parliament to urgently clarify their policy in terms of compulsory housing targets for council areas – a letter from the Secretary of State doesn’t amount to a change in Government policy.
“Thank you to the residents of Stoke Bardolph, Teal Close, Burton Joyce and surrounding communities who shared their views with us. When we say we are a listening council, we mean it.”
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service after the meeting Cllr Adams and Cllr Smith said: “We won!
“And when we say we, we mean our local residents and residents of the whole of Gedling Borough.
“The flora and fauna of the beautiful Stoke Bardolph is protected for future generations.
“It shows that political pressure, with an election around the corner can make a real difference.
“Labour’s U-Turn is a great first step, but our greenbelt should never have been put at risk in the first place by them.
“This is just the beginning, the greenbelt and our beautiful countryside is not up for sale and today’s decision forms the start of the fightback of the rural communities, suffering years of detrimental development.”
