A local authority has launched a formal objection over Gedling Borough Council‘s plans to allocate space for more than 1,600 homes on the border with Hucknall.

Ashfield District Council said the housing plans, on its border with Gedling, would be “difficult to integrate” into Hucknall without new services and infrastructure.

The proposal is part of the Greater Nottingham Strategic Plan, a major new housing document setting out sites for new homes across Nottingham, Gedling, Broxtowe and Rushcliffe through to 2038.

Councils in the four areas are drawing up the plan together to meet a joint housing target of 49,990 homes by the end of this period.

Part of Gedling Borough Council’s contributions to the documents include plans for housing at the Top Wighay Farm site, near Linby.

The development, which sits above the northern edge of Hucknall, already has planning permission for 805 homes.

However, the Labour-run borough council has included plans to extend the Top Wighay site by a further 640 homes, taking the total allocation to 1,445.

Another 203 homes are allocated off Papplewick Lane, in Linby, taking the total number of homes on Hucknall’s border up to 1,648.

A consultation on these documents concluded this week and Ashfield District Council submitted a last-minute objection to the plans.

New documents published by the council said: “The allocation of sites
results in substantial development in and around Hucknall, which will have a disproportionate impact.

“This will result in a further substantial expansion of Hucknall and, given that the Top Wighay Farm site does not adjoin the urban area of Arnold and Carlton, will not assist in the regeneration of these areas.

“There is a lack of information and, therefore, understanding of the potential implications in relation to transport and other infrastructure from the proposed extension to Top Wighay Farm.

“Ashfield District Council considers the proposed additional requirement at Top Wighay Farm goes beyond a complementary role for Hucknall in relation to Nottingham.

“It’s very difficult to integrate that level of development into the wider community of Hucknall, and the extension north means it is increasingly isolated from the services and infrastructure in Hucknall.”

A delegated decision to submit the consultation was taken by the authority on Monday (February 13) – a day before the consultation closed.

The new houses were discussed during a November meeting of the authority’s local plan development panel.

During this meeting, Councillor Keir Morrison (Lab), who represents Hucknall South, spoke out against the plans and said: “The system is broken and it’s as simple as that.

“The bottom line, specifically talking about Hucknall, is that we need more GPs across the town and we need more dentists, along with other associated infrastructure.”

Responding to the concerns, a Gedling Borough Council spokesperson said: “The Government has set a housing target for at least 7,950 homes to be built in Gedling Borough by 2038.

“Much of the housing has already been allocated on sites across Gedling Borough where developments are well under way.

“[This includes] land north of Papplewick Lane, as well as at Top Wighay Farm, where planning permission has been granted for 805 homes.

“The document ensures that housing is concentrated in the most sustainable locations across the borough.

“Consultation on the preferred approach document took place between January 3 and February 14.

“The responses will now be reviewed and inform a full draft of the Greater Nottingham Strategic Plan which is scheduled to be published later this year when there will be a further opportunity to comment.”

Gedling Borough Council says it is asking residents to “dip their hands in their pockets” with a tax rise following years of real-term budget cuts.

The Labour-led authority’s cabinet met today (February 16) to discuss its 2023/24 budget ahead of the wider full council budget meeting next month.

Within the discussions was a tax rise working out at £5.31 more for Band D homes, taking the total paid by these properties up to £183.38 for the year.

For Band A homes, it works out at £3.54 more from April or £122.25 being paid directly to the authority across the year.

Band B bills would also rise by £4.13 to £142.63, while Band C bills paid to fund the authority would increase by £4.72 to £163.00.

It follows Government figures that showed the council was the fifth-worst affected for real terms cuts to its core spending power since the 2015/16 financial year.

Whitehall data published in December showed the borough council will have eight per cent less money to spend on services next year compared with eight years ago.

In financial terms, this is a reduction in real-terms spending from £12.7m in 2015/16 to £11.6m from April 2023 onwards.

And Councillor Michael Payne (Lab), the authority’s deputy leader, said in Thursday’s meeting he thinks this could be worse without the proposed tax rise.

He said: “This has undoubtedly been the worst and most difficult year to put together a budget that maintains the vital public services but also keeps the council’s finances in a sound position.

“It’s been like knitting fog because we have a formula constructed by central government that results in Gedling being one of only ten councils that has lost money over the last 13 years.

“It results in this council having to ask, yet again, for residents to dip their hands in their pockets to make sure we can protect services like the collection of bins, leisure centres, parks and green spaces.

“Overall, our rate of council tax in Gedling remains the third-lowest in Nottinghamshire.

“If we weren’t increasing council tax this year, I’d put us being in the top three worst affected councils in this country [for long-term cuts to spending power].”

The cabinet backed the wider budget, which also includes the tax proposals.

This will now be presented to the full council meeting on March 2, when politicians from all political parties will meet to debate the proposals.

If approved, the increase would join separate tax rises from the police, the fire service and Nottinghamshire County Council.

Caroline Henry (Con), the police and crime commissioner, is raising bills by £14.94 on Band D homes.

For Band A, this rise is £9.96, rising to £11.62 for Band B and £13.28 for Band C.

The Nottinghamshire Fire Authority plans to increase bills for all homes by £5 regardless of banding.

And the Conservative-led county council is enforcing a 4.84 per cent rise, working out at £53.05 more for Band A, £61.88 for Band B, £70.73 for Band C and £79.57 for Band D.

When factoring in the borough council, emergency service and county council precepts, the total bills for Band A-D Gedling homes will be:

• Band A: £1,511.26 (total increase of £71.55)
• Band B: £1,763.40 (total increase of £82.63)
• Band C: £2,014.59 (total increase of £93.73)
• Band D: £2,265.80 (total increase of £104.82)

It comes as the borough council confirmed its tax plans will help to combat significant inflationary pressures.

This includes finding more than £1.2m to fund extra wages after national pay awards were agreed upon to support staff during the cost of living crisis.

A further £700,000 also needs to be found due to soaring utility costs fuelled by the ongoing energy crisis, Thursday’s meeting heard.