Hucknall campaign group welcomes council's Whyburn Farm announcement but wants more clarity on situation

A Hucknall campaign group set up to oppose plans to build 3000 houses on Whyburn Farm has welcomed today's announcement that the proposals have been removed from the local plan. However, they have maintained that 'important questions remain.'

Hucknall Against Whyburn Farm Development (HAWFD) was founded in the Autumn of last year shortly after Ashfield District Council released the local plan draft which included intentions to build on the greenbelt land in Hucknall West.

The group has over 4500 members on Facebook and has organised an array of community events including quizzes and walks to raise awareness of the situation, and money to fund potential legal action if the development was given the go ahead.

They also started a petition that received over 7600 signatures opposing the potential development and presented it to the council last year.

This morning (Thursday 18 August), after months of the local plan being on pause, Ashfield District Council announced that Whyburn Farm would be pulled from the plan.

In a statement HAWFD said: "We have always been clear that we oppose this plan and the disastrous effects it would inflict on Hucknall and the Ashfield District as a whole. Today, the controlling Ashfield Independent Party has announced its intention to withdraw Whyburn Farm from its Draft Local Plan. It has also announced that a new Draft Plan will be circulated during September and the statutory stage 2 consultation period resumed. 

"We must be clear that, at this point, Hucknall Against Whyburn Farm Development (HAWFD) welcome the announcement made today, however, the specific proposals of any new Ashfield Independent Draft Local Plan are unclear. These new proposals have not been made available to us or the people of Hucknall. Therefore, while a very positive move appears to have been made for our cause, we must await the finer details before we draw any firm conclusions. 

"We have, however, carefully analysed all the information that has been released and it is safe to say despite today's positive announcement important questions still remain.

"The HAWFD team are working hard to gain clarity on what has happened today and to establish the impact of any new local plan when this is made available to us. For now we will continue doing everything we can to establish the clear facts, protect our greenbelt land and support the people of Hucknall."