Mansfield Council backs Ashfield’s Local Plan - and 1,000 homes on Mansfield border

The authority has praised several proposals within the document, stating plans will ‘help support [Mansfield’s] vitality and viability’.

Ashfield Council’s plan, which outlines where 8,226 homes will be built between now and 2038, has been met with fierce opposition from numerous residents’ groups.

The plan includes two major settlements, a 3,000-home development on Hucknall’s greenbelt at Whyburn farm, and a further 1,000 houses on greenfield at Cauldwell Road, Sutton, near its Mansfield border.

Concerns have been raised about the proposals, with residents in both towns feeling the developments are in the wrong place.

However, in its consultation response, Mansfield Council spoke favourably about the Cauldwell Road plan.

A document due to be approved on Friday, November 12, says: “While this site is not directly on the border with Mansfield district, it is in close proximity and is likely to look towards Mansfield for certain services and jobs.

“As such, the additional visitors to Mansfield town centre from this development are welcomed to help support its vitality and viability.

“It will be important for public transport services to be provided into Mansfield, as well as into Ashfield district.”

It adds the settlement’s close links to the 1,700-home Lindhurst Development, the new Amazon warehouse at Summit Park, and homes planned near West Nottinghamshire College, create an ‘appropriate location for this level of development’.

Disruption

However, the comments come just a week after campaigners raised concerns about the Cauldwell Road plans and the potential impact on residents and businesses.

Laura Gapski, owner of Bright Sparks Day Nursery on Derby Road, has been campaigning to stop the plan.

She said the development would impact her own and nearby businesses, and affect the wellbeing of residents.

Her campaign group, Residents and Businesses Against Cauldwell Road Development, has set up a petition calling for the plan to be scrapped, with people in the area feeling ‘betrayed’ by the Ashfield Independents administration.

She said: “It’s going to cause tremendous business disruption to us, to Coxmoor Golf Club and Sherwood Observatory, and disruption for local people.

“Residents are lobbying together to petition, object, and meet with local councillors to express disappointment and concerns over the plan.

“It can’t happen here, and it’s not going to happen here.”

The leader of Ashfield Council, Coun Jason Zadrozny, has admitted the plan is ‘controversial’, due to the number of greenfield sites allocated for housing, and pledged to pause progress once the initial consultation period ends in two weeks,

Coun Matt Relf, Ashfield’s portfolio holder responsible for the plan, represents Sutton Junction and Harlow Wood, where the Cauldwell Road development would be based.

He said last week the council will ‘be looking at every response’ to the ongoing consultation.

He expects there ‘will be changes made’ once the consultation comes to an end on November 16.

Mansfield Council’s response to the plan is due for approval during a delegated decision by Coun Stuart Richardson, portfolio holder for regeneration and growth, on Friday.

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