Village news
East Leake Mike Elliott 0115 937 6506 elliottnews@btconnect.com DON’T BOTHER WITH A NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN.
East Leake Parish Council -- the first in Rushcliffe to adopt a Neighborough Plan – are telling others in the Borough who might have similar ideas not to bother.
In an open letter to all parish and town councils in the borough they have criticised Rushcliffe over the lack of attention they give to such Plans after lots of people have done an immense amount of work to produce it.
In the letter to councils, East Leake parish clerk Neil Lambert tells them or a residents group currently putting time, effort, and money into creating a Neighbourhood Plan their advice is not to bother.
“We were the first parish in Rushcliffe to adopt a Neighbourhood Plan and we have been appalled at how Rushcliffe Borough Council appears to ignore its policies in preliminary discussions with developers and when determining planning applications.”
The clerk says their only recourse was to take their decisions to judicial review – but said this was a step that were reluctant to follow because of the cost and complexity.
“The latest decision that has shocked us is a reserved matters approval for 118 homes in which the houses for the open market are almost all expensive 4 bedroom detached.
“This goes completely against the Neighbourhood Plan policy on housing mix, Rushcliffe’s own policy, and the wishes of our residents”
The clerk says among all the market homes so far approved at East Leake, not a single one caters for the needs of older residents, and there have been precious few starter homes.
“There are two things that are driving a horse and cart through our Neighbourhood Plan policies.
“The first seems to be the attitude of Rushcliffe’s planning officers and committee, giving insufficient weight to the policies in our Neighbourhood Plan. This may be because they are unfamiliar with neighbourhood plans in general, or somehow regard them as less important than other policies, and it could be argued that will improve as more neighbourhood plans are adopted in the borough. But there is certainly no sign as yet.”
The recent adoption of Radcliffe’s Neighbourhood Plan has not improved things – an application was recently approved there that went completely against their policy on the type of houses to be built.
East Leake says the second problem is Rushcliffe’s failure to maintain a five year housing land supply. “This means that alongside the council’s own policies in the Core Strategy, policies in the Neighbourhood Plan that relate to supply of housing land are deemed to be ‘out of date’ and so they carry less weight than they otherwise would.
“That effectively means that developers have a better chance of winning appeals to build anywhere in Rushcliffe, particularly sites that are not protected by green belt.
“It is worth noting that it is only policies that relate to supply of housing land that are deemed out of date by the government, i.e. where houses will be built. All the other policies, to do with what will be built, should be given full force.
.” These policies could cover environmental aspects, house design, housing mix, improving the vibrancy of the village centre, and other aspects of development that are very important to the individual communities.”
The clerk says that at East Leake they have been sickened at how Rushcliffe Borough Council seems to have ignored the wishes of East Leake residents in this regard.” So much for “localism”!” they say.
The parish council say in their message to other paishes; “Good luck with your Neighbourhood Plans if you are embarking on this process – it is a long journey and you will need perseverance and effort to get there. Let’s hope it will be worth it when you succeed.”
They say they are very willing to go out to Parish Councils to share their experiences In a statement to the Echo, Rushcliffe Borough Council’s Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Housing and Planning Cllr Roger Upton said: “We encourage all residents to help create and feed into Neighbourhood Plans in their part of Rushcliffe as a key channel to share their views on local housing matters.
“The reserved matters application referred to by East Leake Parish Council was part of a larger site and does provide a range of housing. The original application of this site was approved prior to the adoption of the Neighbourhood Plan.
“The suggestion the council ignores policies in preliminary discussions with developers and when determining planning applications is simply not the case but we are reliant on cooperation from their representatives and land owners to work with us on these rules.
“Neighbourhood plans are treated by our officers as importantly as any other planning policy and the Council is not unique in the situation of identifying a five year housing supply. Many councils experience this issue hence why the government are looking at ways to solve this complex problem.
“The council supports Neighbourhood Plans and encourages local communities to consider having them.”
FIREFIGHTERS AT TRAIN STATION BLAZE. East Leake fire station staff were closely involved in one of the biggest fires in Nottinghamshire for 20 years when they attended the huge blaze at Nottingham train station on Friday.
Their first call was at 7-35am on Friday morning when the engine from East Leake was called out for standby duty at the Highfields fire station in Nottingham, taking over from the crews from there who were at the train station.
At 8.35am they were called from that station to go to the actual train station fire and were part of the 12 pumps in use at the blaze, and remained at the scene until 2pm, when they returned to their home station. At 4pm they were called back to the train station and were there until they were stood down at 7pm.
The fire itself meant the train station was closed throughout the day, causing major disruption to thousands of people.
Peter Torr, the East Leake station manager, told the Echo that while at the station their officers had been involved in a wide number of duties, in addition to fighting the fire itself,. including ensuring water supplies were sufficient, taking other firemen off while they had drinks, and ensuring the oxygen supplies were sufficient for those men needing them.
The incident lasted 12 hours as a fire fighting one and after the blaze, which is being treated by police as arson, had been put out, there was a tremendous amount of work to carry out to help clear up and make the site safe.
The East Leake crew were recently sent to Melton Mowbray on stand by duty there and it was ironic while there they were sent to a road accident at Bunny.
STUDENTS CERTIFICATE EVENING. The annual Students Certificate evening for East Leake Academy was as successful as usual and proved an inspiring end of term event, for students, staff and parents.
The 90-minute long event was opened with a warm welcome from the popular Academy Principal, Ms Kathy Hardy, with the Head Student Team figuring in the overall welcome everyone to the awards event.
Professor K D Sinclair was the main speaker for the evening, and chairman of the Governors John Dickens was among those who handed out the awards.
A team of members of the Academy PTA served the refreshments.
PRIMARY SCHOOL DESIGN CHALLENGE. Pupils in the two primary schools at East Leake --Brookside and Lantern Lane – have been invited to turn designers and take part in a challenge set them by the Derbyshire House home for the elderly in the village for a new garden area– and could face competition from a school in Holland.
The two village schools in East Leake have been asked by the home if they would be interested in their children taking part in a competition that they are holding in the New Year.
Home manager Sharon Smith says they have quite big gardens and there are areas that they are unsure what to do with.
“Our elderly residents would like to challenge the children in designing a garden area and then they will judge it and the winner will have their garden created.”
Sharon says there could be more than one winner.
Children would be able to help with the area that is being designed if they wished to and could also come up at any point that the area was being created. “Bringing older people together with younger people is always positive for the people that live here and also the community,” added Sharon.
The design does not have to be flowers or bedding plants so it can be anything that the youngsters wish it to be. Sharon says all designs will be considered, for example nature areas or enchanted areas, adding that generally children have the best imaginations.
It is planned for the competition be starting in the New Year with judging taking place in March.
CHRISTMAS SHEETS. Each year Echo correspondent Mike Elliott receives about 150 coloured Christmas design sheets produced by children at the Pascalzuid High School in Zaandam in Holland and distributes them to various old folks homes in Nottinghamshire on behalf of the Dutch children, who enjoy giving festive greetings to elderly folk in England while at the same time helping themselves to learn English.
For the 2017 festive season Derbyshire House residents were among those who received the Christmas sheets and responded with return messages to the children in Holland.
And they have responded positively to an invite from Derbyshire House to look to take part in the competition alongside the East Leake pupils.
INSET DAY DATES. East Leake Lantern Lane Primary School have given the dates of their Inset Day for the first six months of the New Year.
The first will be on Wednesday next week 24 January followed by the second on Friday 16 February.
The third date is Monday, June 4
BUDGET PROPOSALS. East Leake parish council are working on their proposals for budget items for the 2018-19 financial year.
The council, in their newsletter, say perhaps the least exciting thing the Parish Council has to do each year is to undertake a detailed review of the current year’s income and expenditure and project forward to calculate what they will need in the following year.
“Some Councils simply say inflation is three per cent, so increase everything by that figure, but this inevitably means that those Councils never do anything new.”
They go on: “We, from day one, have preferred to prepare an Action Plan covering a period of 5 years in which we try to identify and cost the projects that we would like to be able to fulfil and prepare the annual budget accordingly. This has enabled us to extend the Health Centre car park, install the new children’s playground, renovate The Glebe and Rest Garden and extend the Council’s Works Depot.”
The Action Plan is reviewed from time to time and this review has recently been completed, with the extension of the Gotham Road car park, the acquisition of land on Costock Road for Playing Fields parking and the installation of fitness equipment in Meadow Park being identified as priority items.
The process will not be full completed until sometime this month when the budget for 2018/19 will be set.
Council chairman Coun Conrad Oatey says residents can be rest assured they will keep everyone advised of the outcome.
FAMILY HISTORY. Loughborough’s Worker’s Education Association ( WEA) are staging a series of daytime meetings looking an an introduced to tracing Family History.
The sessions are being held in East Leake library on Tuesday mornings until February 20, from 9.30am for two hours.
The organisers say the course is for adults with no experience of family history, although all are welcome.
“New sources and methods will be investigated to enable you to begin your research further and work with others on the journey say the WEA.
There will be particular emphasis placed on historical context in the sessions for which the tutor is Kevin Brown.
The fee for the five courses is £38.50, but free, if in receipt of an income related benefit.
For further information contact the WEA Loughborough Office on 01509 268636 or email Lvan_ ristell@wea.org.uk or go on the website at Website www. wea.org.uk course ref. C2339043
Also being held are a series of classes on ‘Philosophy: Happiness and Well-Being’ with these running until March 13, due to start next week on Tuesday January 23 from 1.00pm – 3.00pm and involving seven meetings in all. All are welcome to the course which is for adults.
Tutor is Bettina Lange and the fee is £53.90, or free, if in receipt of an income related benefit.
Ring the Loughborough office or email: Lvan_ristell@ wea.org.uk or go on the website at www.wea.org.uk course ref. C2339045
A third course starts tomorrow, Thursday January 18, and involves Practical Crafts-- Sewing Machine Skills and will be taking place in St Mary’s Church Hall from tomorrow until February15 from 1.45pm – 3.45pm.
The course will teach basic sewing machine skills but anyone else is welcome as a more experienced sewer and get help with your own sewing projects. Tutor is Rebecca Spear and the course fee is £38.50, or free if in receipt of an income related benefit.
For further information contact: 01509 268636 or email: Lvan_ristell@wea.org. uk Website www.wea.org.uk course ref. C233905.
“What’s the point of short stories?” is the title of course at the Library starting on Wednesday next week January 24 and running to March 7 from 1pm to 3pm.
The course will examine a range of short stories, and discuss common themes and styles, as well as literary techniques.
Tutor is Mike Wilson and the course fee is £46.20 or free, if in receipt of an income related benefit. For further information contact 01509 268636 or email: Lvan_ristell@ wea.org.uk