Save Radcliffe Pool: SNA Meeting Report 10 Jan 2014

The Save Radcliffe Pool group have recently met with South Notts Academy to discuss the proposed loss of the Swimming Pool in Radcliffe on Trent. You can read their report in full here:

South Notts Academy Meeting 10-1-14 Save Radcliffe Pool by Kerry Gough

Follow their action and join the discussion on their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/SaveRadcliffeSwimmingPool

Radcliffe Pool Closure Update

The Save Radcliffe Pool group are working closely with South Nottinghamshire Academy over the recently announced plans to close our pool at Radcliffe on Trent. You can read the South Nottinghamshire Academy Update below:

South Notts Academy New Build Update Dec 13

You can join in the discussion on their Facebook community page here or via the discussion on Twitter here. They endeavour to update our community as often as they are able, so please make sure that you follow their activities and have your say. Direct links have been provided at the top of the Radcliffe Community page.

Radcliffe Pool Closure Features on BBC Radio Nottingham's Breakfast Show This Morning

Radcliffe on Trent Pool closure is set to feature on this morning's BBC Radio Nottingham's Breakfast Show. Make sure you tune in to hear members of the Radcliffe community discussing this issue.

Urgent News: Rushcliffe Borough Council Update

An urgent message just came in from one of our residents:

Apparently if you have sent your comments via email on the proposed development at Shelford Road (Ref: 13/02329/OUT) you will also need to let them have your postal address.

I can't see this stated anywhere in their own letter, but just to warn you that you may be contacted asking for clarification of your address. Think Rushcliffe Borough Council might need to update the advice given on their own standardised letters.

Planning Application Notification Letter by Kerry Gough

Many thanks to Radcliffe Life Magazine for Featuring an Article on Our Campaign

Many of you will be receiving a copy of Radcliffe Life magazine this week (if you haven't already). Many thanks to the Clemmow family for including an article on our campaign in the Jan 2014 issue.

If you haven't had a chance to read it yet, you can find it on the Life Magazines site here:
http://www.life-magazines.co.uk/currentissues.php

Just click on Radcliffe Life and you will find us on page 37.

Delivery to Rushcliffe Borough Council complete. Still not done it, email now!

All of the comments forms received on the Shelford Road development have been delivered to the Rushcliffe Borough Council Offices today. Although I must say that the River Trent was a bit higher and a lot murkier today than the picture below...

(c) Rushcliffe Borough Council

If you haven't sent in your concerns, you can still do so now. Just email them to:

developmentcontrol@rushcliffe.gov.uk (using ref: 13/02329/OUT)

Go on. You don't have to write much, just outline the key issues that concern you the most, and I can guarantee that you will have the best night's sleep knowing that you did your bit. 

Off to make a Delivery of Hard Copies of Your Comments Right Now, There's Still Time to Complete Online

We are just about to make a delivery to Rushcliffe Borough Council Planning Office with your completed comments forms. There has been an ongoing jolly gathering outside my house for most of the morning. Makes you realise what a warm and welcoming community we have here at Radcliffe on Trent.

If you haven't sent on your concerns yet, there is still time. Pop it in an email today to: developmentcontrol@rushcliffe.gov.uk

Last Chance to Submit Your Concerns. Make them count!

This is it. Today is the day. Submit your Concerns to Rushcliffe Borough Council Planning Office on the Proposed Shelford Road Development. 

Take 5 minutes today to email your concerns to: developmentcontrol@rushcliffe.gov.uk 
Using ref: 13/02329/OUT Shelford Road

Or this will be gone forever

Suggested Content 
While a personalised statement of complaint will have the most impact, here is a template based upon the shared concerns raised by our community at Radcliffe on Trent.

To Whom it May Concern,

I am writing to object about the Shelford Road planning application 13/02329/OUT and the plans to build upon the Greenbelt land around Radcliffe on Trent.

With 1000 houses recently green-lit by Rushcliffe Borough Council within neighbouring Bingham, and an additional 500 houses approved in Newton, in addition to the huge development at Gamston, members of the Radcliffe community have raised their concerns over the pressure upon village life and its community.

The key objections raised by our Radcliffe on Trent community include:

• Objections to the identification of Green Belt land as a suitable place to build 
• Negative impact upon the local environment and ecology
• The increased pressure on an already heavily congested A52 and the additional impact that the approved plans for 1000 houses in Bingham would have.
• The same is the case of the 500 houses approved at Newton.
• The increased traffic through the village as a 'rat-run' as a result of the proposed roundabout at the top end of Shelford Road and suggested link through to the A52.
• Increased pressure on Shelford Road due to the impact of the existing plans to build 400 homes by William Davis Ltd. The lack of link to the A52 will result in all traffic from the site travelling down Shelford Road. This is unacceptable to our community. 
• Concern over inability of drains to cope with flooding, given the nature of the ongoing flooding within the village.
• Pressure on the village centre with a lack of adequate parking.
• Pressure on the heath centre and the increasing difficulty of access to essential services.  
• Concerns were raised over the already stretched capacities of Radcliffe on Trent Infant School and Radcliffe on Trent Junior School and the influx that a potential 2055 additional new homes would bring to the village community. 
• Additional anxieties were raised over policing and the reduction of police presence in Radcliffe on Trent with the closure of the police station. 
• Loss of village life and community appeal.  

Deadline Tomorrow: Submit Your Comments via this Short Form

Deadline 6th January 2014: 

Complete the form below, or simply email your comments to: developmentcontrol@rushcliffe.gov.uk 

Or complete a paper version and drop it at 15 Clumber Drive by 12pm, 6th January 2014 and we will hand deliver it for you.

Rushcliffe Planning Application Comments Form by Kerry Gough

Suggested Content 
While a personalised statement of complaint will have the most impact, here is a template based upon the shared concerns raised by our community at Radcliffe on Trent.

To Whom it May Concern,

I am writing to object about the Shelford Road planning application 13/02329/OUT and the plans to build upon the Greenbelt land around Radcliffe on Trent.

With 1000 houses recently green-lit by Rushcliffe Borough Council within neighbouring Bingham, and an additional 500 houses approved in Newton, in addition to the huge development at Gamston, members of the Radcliffe community have raised their concerns over the pressure upon village life and its community.

The key objections raised by our Radcliffe on Trent community include:

• Objections to the identification of Green Belt land as a suitable place to build 
• Negative impact upon the local environment and ecology
• The increased pressure on an already heavily congested A52 and the additional impact that the approved plans for 1000 houses in Bingham would have.
• The same is the case of the 500 houses approved at Newton.
• The increased traffic through the village as a 'rat-run' as a result of the proposed roundabout at the top end of Shelford Road and suggested link through to the A52.
• Increased pressure on Shelford Road due to the impact of the existing plans to build 400 homes by William Davis Ltd. The lack of link to the A52 will result in all traffic from the site travelling down Shelford Road. This is unacceptable to our community. 
• Concern over inability of drains to cope with flooding, given the nature of the ongoing flooding within the village.
• Pressure on the village centre with a lack of adequate parking.
• Pressure on the heath centre and the increasing difficulty of access to essential services.  
• Concerns were raised over the already stretched capacities of Radcliffe on Trent Infant School and Radcliffe on Trent Junior School and the influx that a potential 2055 additional new homes would bring to the village community. 
• Additional anxieties were raised over policing and the reduction of police presence in Radcliffe on Trent with the closure of the police station. 
• Loss of village life and community appeal.  

Our MP Kenneth Clarke Speaks Out on Local Planning Issues

Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke gave the Radcliffe Community Group advice on how to approach the recent planning issues that we are facing around the development of our Greenbelt in Radcliffe on Trent. In our meeting of Sat, 14^th December, while recognising the issue of planning as a highly emotive subject, and highlighting how as our MP for Rushcliffe, he had no powers where planning decisions were concerned, he was able to offer us advice on how best to approach this. While he felt it was unfair to show support, or otherwise, for any one individual planning application, he was able to give advice based upon how to tackle developments of this kind. Here he outlined the processes involved in the decision making surrounding planning applications, such as the recent William Davis Ltd. application that is currently under review on the Greenbelt land at Shelford Road Farm.

While it is good to have the support of our local Radcliffe on Trent Parish Councillors, he identified how ‘The decision will be taken by Rushcliffe Borough Council and they will have to reach their own decision in line with planning practice and guidelines…’ To this end, it was his immediate suggestion that we contact our Rushcliffe Borough Councillors and Nottinghamshire County Councillors directly to express our concerns over the exact nature of these developments in a way which addresses these planning issues and objections directly.

Protection of Our Greenbelt

While we did request MP Clarke’s support on the broader issue surrounding the protection of the Greenbelt land that surrounds Radcliffe on Trent, he highlighted that he was unable to comment explicitly upon this, but reassured us that this would feature as a part of next year’s Greenbelt review for Rushcliffe. The site is still designated Greenbelt and, as yet, the review has not gone ahead. In addition to this, we also asked for his support on the wider issue of the A52 and the existing pressures upon this as the major carriageway that serves Nottingham from the surrounding areas. To this end we pointed out that these were issues that would be faced not only by residents of Radcliffe on Trent, but would be an issue faced more broadly by all of those communities who were reliant upon the A52 corridor for access to Nottingham.

It was highlighted to us that this discussion of the pressures on the A52 would be an issue that would be under consideration as a part of the Rushcliffe Core Strategy and the wider review of future development across Rushcliffe. However, as far as decisions over individual planning applications is concerned, ‘Each one has to be looked at on its merits, and most of them have arguments for and against, but the Borough councillors are elected to take a decision weighing up the merits and the main people to canvas are your elected Borough Councillors who are members of the body which is charged with being the planning authority.’

Planning and Process: How it Works for Us

When asking for clarification over the process for prospective applications on Greenbelt land, MP Clarke highlighted how while the existing laws are in place to protect the Greenbelt, ‘it does not mean that absolutely nothing can be contemplated for the land which is currently designated Greenbelt.’  Here he highlighted how the argument put forward by the developers needs to be compellingly presented and that there is a need to demonstrate ‘exceptional circumstances’. In this situation he identified how ‘To make a decision, you have a look at the facts of each individual case and you have to decide whether it justifies the description of exceptional circumstances.’ MP Clarke felt that in Rushcliffe’s future, ‘There will be modifications to the Greenbelt. But in the meanwhile, the presumption is that you don’t have development on the Greenbelt unless there are some exceptional circumstances.’ So if we are to understand this correctly, this would mean that an application would not be granted on the Greenbelt unless there are ‘exceptional circumstances’ which would justify granting it. At present it would seem that there are no exceptional circumstances evident in the proposal, so it would appear that there is hope yet.  

While he was sympathetic to the position of local councillors in Rushcliffe for the difficult decisions that they are facing at the moment, he identified how as a part of Rushcliffe Borough, ‘Our problem is, it’s not a former industrial area, it doesn’t have brownfield sites. Which is why the problem of getting an agreed local plan in Rushcliffe is so difficult.’ He went on to identify how there is a

‘Need to get the balance right between the public interest and allowing some continuous development and contributing to building the number of houses that we need and on the one hand, the need to protect the amenity of local residents, the environment, the Greenbelt and so on, and it’s not an easy task.’

The Greenbelt Review?

However, with that said, he did recognise the argument surrounding the protection of small communities and pocket villages like Radcliffe that surround Nottingham. In this case, he did recognise that ‘That’s a perfectly valid argument; we do not want the conurbation to creep out swallowing village after village.’ It is nice to know that our MP knows our village and, in discussion, highlighted how ‘Shelford Road has always struck me as an ordinary agricultural landscape.’

Raising our concerns about the fact that Radcliffe on Trent has not, as yet, featured in real terms as a part of the Rushcliffe Local Plan or Core Strategy Development documentation and its plans for development on the Greenbelt, would suggest that there is still room for us to raise our concerns over these developments. We asked whether there would be a large and open consultation process as had recently been offered to the Gamston, Tollerton and Clifton residents, and while not forthcoming in an answer on this issue, he did reassure us that the future of Radcliffe on Trent’s Greenbelt boundary would feature as a part of the next stage of the Core Strategy review. Rushcliffe’s recently released Rushcliffe Greenbelt Review Document (November 2013) states the following on this issue:

‘More detailed changes around Key Settlements in or adjacent to the Green Belt (Bingham, Cotgrave, Keyworth, Ruddington and Radcliffe on Trent) and a review of possible minor adjustments around other villages inset from the Green Belt will take place at a later date in support of the second part of the Local Plan.’

At this stage we are led to believe that this will take place in May/June 2014, however despite pressing on this issue with our MP, local councillors and Rushcliffe Borough Council, we have not been able to gain any further clarification on this subject beyond being referred back to this document, so we include it in full here for your ease of access. Our MP Kenneth Clarke did highlight how

‘Actually the most difficult powers the council have are planning. That is what they are elected to decide, but there is a bit of pressure on them from national policy, because with some councils the easy way out is to turn every application down and just challenge the planning inspectorate to allow the appeals to be turned round and say it’s not my fault. The whole point of a local plan is to give them more responsibility. Once they’ve settled where they’re prepared to contemplate development, then it is added protection for the rest and they can control how it’s developed.’

As such the forthcoming review of Radcliffe on Trent’s Greenbelt review will have the largest decisive factor upon the development of our village community and as such we will continue to fight to have our say on issues that affect us and the impact upon us immediately within our village community.

Failing Drainage and Increased Traffic for the A52 and Our Village

When presenting the concerns of the members of the Radcliffe on Trent community about the proposed development on our Greenbelt, particularly in light of the concerns over the environment, increased traffic, failing drainage, as well as the increased and ongoing flooding issues currently faced by our village community, our MP advised us to put all of these issues into our complaints to Rushcliffe Borough Council. Our MP Kenneth Clarke identified how both ‘The County Council as well as the Borough are involved in the transport consequences, and I do realise that everything along the A52 into Nottingham is heavily loaded.’

When highlighting the massive pressure that has already been exerted upon the A52 as a result of the increase in development across the commuting corridor, and fears amongst our village members as to the impact that all of the developments that have already been granted planning permission will eventually have upon the A52 once complete (in excess of 1500 houses within miles of Radcliffe on Trent and thousands more further along the A52 in the directions of both Grantham and Gamston), our MP acknowledged that ‘The commute to Nottingham from Radcliffe, I am led to believe is a nightmare every morning. It’s got over-loaded over time and transport problems are one of the things that will inhibit it eventually, I would imagine.’

He went on to reassure us that he was well aware of the situation surrounding our village and had already been approached about concerns surrounding the plans to develop the Shelford Road site at Radcliffe on Trent, but that our meeting with him had brought him up to date. He reassured us that he would raise all of these issues personally with our local Rushcliffe Councillors and ensure that our views are taken into consideration, stating that ‘We are now in the middle of a full-blooded argument, discussion, consultation about this decision.’ However, we do need to do this for ourselves, and the more weight that we can put behind this in terms of individual responses to the Rushcliffe Planning office, the better. Recognising how ‘Ordinary citizens just want the merits of the case to be decided objectively and fairly, by someone who’s looked at both sides and takes a decision. And that is what the Borough Council is for.’

The time for us to act is now

As of today we have 2 days remaining to raise our concerns with Rushcliffe Borough Council. To do nothing is to seal our fate. Issues of traffic, drainage and environment are some of the key planning issues that the council will listen to and as such we would ask you to raise your concerns on these issues and any other issues that will have an impact upon our village to the planning office.  

You can raise your concerns in the following ways:

Write in person to the Planning Office at Rushcliffe Borough Council (quoting reference 13/02329/OUT Shelford Road Farm):
Planning Office Ref: 13/02329/OUT, Development Control, Civic Centre, Pavillion Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham NG2 5FE

Or; Email your concerns directly to the Planning Office directly here: developmentcontrol@rushcliffe.gov.uk

Or; Complete the template form available here, returning it to either of the postal addresses or email addresses above

Rushcliffe Planning Application Comments Form

In addition

You should write in person to your local Councillors Jean Smith and Neil Clarke at Rushcliffe Borough Council at: Civic Centre, Pavilion Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham NG2 5FE
Or email:
Cllr Jean Smith at: Cllr.JSmith@rushcliffe.gov.uk
Cllr Neil Clarke at: Cllr.JClarke@rushcliffe.gov.uk

This advice provided by Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke is applicable to any grass roots social action group, such as ours, and so will benefit others that find themselves in our situation.