News

Rural Notts village could evolve into ‘commuter belt’ due to new housing

By Lauren Monaghan, Local Democracy Reporter

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A rural Rushcliffe village could see itself become more part of a “commuter belt” with increased development bringing in new residents and more traffic.

The small Rushcliffe village of Bunny, with a population of 715 in the 2021 census, sits along the A60 Loughborough Road to the south of Ruddington.

The village is nestled among Rushcliffe Borough’s green belt and still reflects a quaint refuge away from Nottingham city, which is around a 20-minute drive away.

But nearby housing development plans and other expansion projects have caused – and will cause – an increased volume of vehicles travelling up and down the A60.

Bunny, alongside Bradmore, will be effectively sandwiched between two newer housing developments.

William Davis’ Ruddington development of around 185 homes opposite Mere Way off the A60 is around a two-minute drive north of Bunny.

In June 2024 a planning inspector overturned Rushcliffe Borough Council’s decision to refuse the building of 110 homes on the former Bunny Brickworks site to the south of the village and south of Gotham Lane.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) on Wednesday, July 23, regarding expansion near Bunny, Dr Dilip Nathan, who has lived in the village since 2001 said: “[My family has moved] to little villages [in different areas] and as time’s gone on the people who have always lived in the villages have grown older, their children have left and can’t afford to buy back into the village so they sold up to people who are much younger.

“But often they’re more commuters as opposed to people committed to the village environment.

“[Bunny] had a very vibrant church, and it became a community hub. We had a local shop and post office – they went [around 20 years ago].

“Over 20 years we have seen evolution [of Bunny]. We’ve gone from being a more village atmosphere, with more events [from the church], [but] things will evolve and it becomes more of a commuter belt.”

Dr Nathan said there is a risk the village will “evolve too much” if some of the nearby protected green land is used for housing development.

Bunny parents Charlotte, 37, and Sam, 39, believe the land that separates the older part of the village from Albert Road will be used for housing one day.

Sam told the LDRS that Bunny would become “a suburb” rather than a village in the event of more development, with Charlotte saying: “We’d move under the pressure of [Bunny] being eaten up into a suburb, because it’s not what we wanted.”

The couple moved to the village from West Bridgford around five years ago and share a three-year-old daughter, with Charlotte saying Bunny is her “idea of living where a child should grow up”.

Along with increased traffic from new nearby homes, concern has risen over the extra amount of HGVs in the village after plans were approved to increase operation at a nearby waste recycling facility.

Nottinghamshire County Council yesterday (July 22) approved the increase of waste tonnage going through Bunny Materials Recycling Facility from 100,000 tonnes to 250,000 tonnes. This site is located just south of Bunny towards Bunny Hill Top.

The increase of the site’s transportation of construction and demolition waste, along with IBA – a form of ash produced in incineration facilities that can be recycled for construction purposes – means the number of HGVs moving along the A60 each week will double.

The maximum amount of movements in and out of the site is currently 550, but this will double to 1,440 a week – an average of four extra movements an hour.

Charlotte said: “Our daughter will be starting Bunny Primary School and the nursery in September, and something that is quite noticeable is that there are too many [HGVs] and they don’t drive responsibly down the [A60] – it’s terrifying.

“My plan is to walk my daughter to and from nursery, so that increases the risk to her. Everyone walks. It’s nicer to, why wouldn’t you?”

“The [A60] is terrible anyway, mainly because of Ruddington expanding very quickly. For every development that happens there are road works, therefore water works – this road’s been a nightmare.”