Updated: Whyburn Farm in Hucknall set to be removed from Ashfield District Council's Local Plan

Whyburn Farm in Hucknall is set to be removed from the draft local housing plan.

Last year, Ashfield District Council included proposals to build 3000 houses on the greenbelt land in their local plan.

It is the Government's expectation that local authorities have an up-to-date plan in place which should be reviewed at least every five years.

This plan then guides decisions on development, planning and economic opportunities in the local area.

The inclusion of Whyburn Farm in the plan and therefore the potential destruction of the greenbelt was met by a furious backlash from local residents.

A Facebook group called Hucknall Against Whyburn Farm Development (HAWFD) was founded and has now amassed over 4,500 members, all vehemently opposed to the proposals.

The plan then went to public consultation allowing residents across Ashfield to have their say. At the same time, nearly 8000 people signed a petition opposing the Whyburn Farm development.

A public meeting was held at The John Godber Centre last October giving residents the opportunity to air their opposition to, and frustration with, the local plan. It proved a heated meeting with Councillor John Wilmott heckled on numerous occasions for blaming the Government targets.

The local plan was then put on pause to allow the Council time to speak with the Government about adjusting the housing targets which meant allocating land for over 8000 new houses to be built in Ashfield.

Despite the pause, HAWFD group organised several events including quizzes, walks and a dog show to raise awareness of the campaign and to raise funds to cover potential legal costs to fight the development if it was given the green light.

However, today (Thursday 18 August), after months of speculation, the Ashfield Independents who run the District Council, confirmed that they will submit a new local plan which will not include Whyburn Farm.

The Council's Local Plan steering group will be making the recommendation which is expected to be ratified at the next Cabinet Meeting in September.

Councillor David Shaw, who represents Hucknall West on Nottinghamshire County Council, the area where Whyburn Farm is located, spoke of his delight at the news. 

He said: "Your local Ashfield Independent Councillors vigorously opposed enforced housing targets time and time again. I am pleased that following our opposition - the Council will now stand up to the Conservative Government. We will not let unachievable housing targets put our valuable green spaces under threat. The Council will now move to formalising this decision at their next Cabinet meeting on 19th September."

Councillor Jason Zadrozny, Leader of Ashfield District Council said: "I am pleased to say that after a lot of deliberation – we are going forward to the next stage of consultation. It will not include the 8000 houses that the Government wants us to include. It's too many. So we've looked at that and the public consultation and we will be protecting the greenbelt as much as we can. 

"We will be reducing the plan by thousands of houses as we move towards the next consultation. I want to thank the vast majority of residents from places like Hucknall for positively taking the chance to have their say. We have listened to their views and the strong views of Hucknall's Ashfield Independent Councillors. We will stand up to the Conservative Government."