Campaign to save Sutton rec fails as council plan for 40 homes gets the go-ahead

It means a campaign by nearby residents to save the rec at Hardwick Lane, which is almost 100 years old, has failed.

Ashfield District Council has officially granted planning permission for its own scheme to turn the 2.64-acre site into a housing estate.

A total of 40 affordable homes will be built, comprising four one-bedroom flats, four two-bedroom flats, 12 two-bedroom houses, 18 three-bedroom houses and two four-bedroom houses.

A total of 568 people signed a petition against the plan, and more than 100 lodged formal objections with the council.

They protested about the loss of green, open space, trees and wildlife and the prospect of increased traffic, noise and congestion.

One 82-year-old man, Henry Lloyd, said he remembered playing football on the rec as a boy, while a mum, Maria Linfield, said the site was crucial for the mental and physical wellbeing of her 18-year-old disabled daughter.

However, the council has been desperate to find suitable sites to address the shortage of new homes within the district and pointed out that the rec has been empty and unused for many years. A long waiting list for social housing had about 4,000 names on it.

It also stressed that other green spaces, including Twitchell Park and Sutton Lawn, were only minutes away, and the council had invested a lot of money in improving them.

Campaigners, including elderly couple Margaret and Derek Young, felt that new homes should be built on ‘brownfield’ (used) sites, rather than green spaces.

A council report said: “We are committed to building on ‘brownfield’ sites, but very few council-owned ones remain. Private sites that are suitable, affordable and that the owner is interested in selling are few and far between.”

Coun Tom Hollis (Ashfield Independents), deputy leader of the council, said: “Hardwick Rec has remained derelict for years, so developing it is the right thing to do. Dozens more council homes will transform the lives of more families.”

Meanwhile, a separate plan is on the table to create two new flats above a charity shop in Sutton.

Agents JF Planning Assets, of Derby, have submitted an application to determine if prior approval is required for a proposed change of use from commercial and business to mixed use, including residential, at 29 Forest Street.

The premises are currently occupied by Age UK, which sells all kind of items on the ground floor, including clothes, jewellery, homewares, sports equipment, books, toys, soft furnishings and furniture, to raise money for the charity.

The application says the flats would be on the upper floor, which would sub-divided and refurbished. A unit at the rear was also being considered for conversion.

Council officers are now considering the proposal and are hoping to make a decision, or recommendation by December 24.

Other planning applications received by Ashfield Council include these:

Land at Pendean Way, Sutton – application to discharge a condition of planning permission, relating to the boundary.

Unit 2, Sidings Road, Lowmoor Industrial Estate, Kirkby – permeable hard-standing at existing industrial facility.

9 Dales Avenue, Sutton – application for lawful development certificate for single-storey rear extension and porch to front.

Townsend House, 54 Chesterfield Road, Huthwaite – certificate of lawfulness for detached outbuilding.