Hucknall: Opposition to Ashfield District Council's Local Plan expected at meeting this week

Ashfield District Council could be presented with two petitions totalling more than 9,000 signatures and a cross-party motion, all calling for its draft local plan to be scrapped.

The controversial housing document, which lays out where 8,226 homes will be built between now and 2038, was met with a fierce backlash from residents and politicians after it was first revealed in October.

The document set out the sites for major developments to meet Government housing targets, including two large settlements to accommodate almost half of all new homes in Ashfield.

This includes the 3,000-home development at Whyburn Farm in Hucknall, and the 1,000-home settlement off Cauldwell Road in Sutton-in-Ashfield.

Both developments, if approved, would come with their own primary schools and community facilities.

However, community action groups have been set up to object to both proposals, with petitions due before the full council meeting on Thursday (December 2) calling for the plans to be reconsidered.

The largest of the two petitions relates to the Hucknall development, with 7,653 signatures calling for the "council to reject the proposal to permit the development of the Greenbelt land in and around Whyburn Farm, Hucknall".

This petition includes 3,504 e-petition signatures and a further 4,149 signatures in paper format.

The second petition, relating to the 1,000-home Cauldwell Road plans, will also be discussed if it meets the 1,500-signature threshold by Wednesday, December 1.

It had 1,107 online signatures at midday on November 29, though it is unknown how many paper signatures the petition has.

The Cauldwell Road petition also calls on Ashfield District Council to "reject the proposals to permit the development of 1,000 homes".

Both petitions will be accompanied by a cross-party motion from opposition Labour and Conservative councillors, calling for the draft local plan to be re-drawn.

The motion has been submitted by Councillor Lauren Mitchell (Lab) and seconded by Cllr Philip Rostance (Con), who both represent parts of Hucknall.

It states: "Considerable opposition to the development proposals within the Draft Local Plan to expand Hucknall has been advanced by the people of Hucknall.

"This Council, therefore, resolves to request the Cabinet (in conjunction with the Local Plan Steering Group) to fully take into account the consultation submissions and to address the opposition to the Draft Local Plan by the people of Hucknall.

"[This will be done by] urgently reviewing, with a view to considering whether to amend at the earliest possible opportunity, this version of the Draft Local Plan, which objectors consider allocates a disproportionate number of new dwellings to Hucknall and destroys a significant portion of Green Belt land.

"[And] considering whether to replace it, at the earliest possible opportunity, with an amended Draft Local Plan that places greater weight upon the scale of development that has already occurred and been allocated in Hucknall.

"[This amended plan should allocate] a greater level of new housing beyond Hucknall across Ashfield District, and that seeks to ensure that any such plan is sustainable."

The motion adds the council should consider "the adequacy of all infrastructure and services" when proposing the number of houses to be built in Hucknall.

Cllr Jason Zadrozny (Ash Ind), leader of the council, and Cllr Matt Relf (Ash Ind), the portfolio holder responsible for the plan, have both confirmed the plan was paused after consultation ended on November 16.

The council is awaiting confirmation from Michael Gove, the secretary of state responsible for housing and local government, about plans to reform the calculation method for setting housing targets.

Earlier this month Mr Gove described the current system – which requires Ashfield District Council to build 457 homes a year until 2038 – as "out of date" and suggested the calculation could be done "in a more sophisticated way".