East Leake
WAITING ON HOUSING DECISION. Planning and housing development continues to be a talking point in East Leake as local councillors and residents wait anxiously to see if the latest attempt by Rushcliffe Borough Council to stop yet even more building taking place is successful.
The proposal on Land West Of Field End Close at East Leake was for residential development of up to 101 dwellings including means of access and was an outline application with all matters reserved except for access and was a re submission by Land Designation Ltd.
The decision by Rushcliffe Borough Council to refuse the proposal was on the grounds it would comprise residential development of a greenfield site outside of the built-up part of the settlement in the open countryside.
The council said the site is not allocated for development in the development plan and, although East Leake is identified as a key settlement for growth in Policy 3 of the Rushcliffe Core Strategy, the development would, if approved, result in the amount of residential development being close to four times the Core Strategy minimum target when considered cumulatively with schemes already granted planning permission. This level of housing delivery for East Leake would be contrary to the Council’s housing distribution strategy set out in Policy 3 and would lead to the unplanned expansion of development significantly beyond the established built edge of the village with resultant adverse impact on its rural setting and adverse impact on access to services.
The proposal would be contrary to Policy 22 of the Local Plan Part 2 (Development within the Countryside) and policies H1 (Number of new homes), H6 (Sites where housing development will be permitted) and E1 (Containment of development) of the East Leake Neighbourhood Plan.
The Borough planners said it has not been adequately demonstrated that a suitable access to serve the new development could be provided or that the traffic generated by the proposed development would not result in an unacceptable increase in danger to the users of the highway due to the use of the access. The proposal would therefore be contrary to the provisions of Policy 1 (Development Requirements) of the Local Plan Part 2, which states that planning permission for new development will be granted provided that, inter alia; 2. A suitable means of access can be provided to the development without detriment to the amenity of adjacent properties or highway safety and the provision of parking is in accordance with the advice provided by the Highways Authority;
Another comment from Rushcliffe said the development proposal would negatively impact landscape character and would have an adverse visual impact on users of local rights of way and it has not been adequately demonstrated that these impacts could be satisfactorily mitigated. The proposal would therefore be contrary to Policy 10 (Design and Enhancing Local Identity) of the Core Strategy and Policy 1 (Development Requirements) of the Local Plan Part 2.
“There is a fundamental policy objection to the proposal and it is considered that this cannot be overcome. Consideration has not been delayed by discussions which cannot resolve the reasons for refusal and a decision has been issued in a timely fashion. “
A previous application for the same site for 170 properties in 2018 was refused in February last year. The parish council yad vigorously objected to that, with one of their reasons being the plans contravened policies I the adopted village Neighbourhood Plan.
The question of an appeal against the refusal by the Borough Council is one that could yet be made, and most in the past there years that have gone to appeal have been granted, resulting in over a thousand houses getting the go-ahead.
NEW STRIP FOR BANTAMS. Young footballers at East Leake are sporting a brand-new strip for matches thanks to the support of a local company.
The East Leake Bantams Under 7s team has swapped its old kit which was for much older players and was far too big for a new strip donated by British Gypsum.
The sponsorship from British Gypsum has covered the cost of a completely new football strip, including a goalkeeper’s jersey.
Co-manager of the team Mr. Dan Wilmott said he was delighted to see the team in their new strip and Mr. Martin Laing from British Gypsum said the local firm was very pleased to support a local team and help to promote grass-roots sport
MEADOW PARK REPORT. Grants and donations have seen the Friends of Meadow Park experience ‘another exceptional financial year’, according to a report to the annual meeting.
Treasurer Andy Denker told the meeting that the account for 2018/19 started with a balance carried forward of £2085.82, which was made up of £1573.79 in general funds and £512.03 in Arboretum sponsorship.
Membership subscriptions have again remained constant over the year a generous grant of £400 from British Gypsum which covered the purchase of wild flower plug plants and bulbs along with the refurbishment of the display lecterns.
, Membership subscriptions to the year end were £743 along with donations of £913[Mel’s collection boxes and the East Leake Dog show organisers again providing welcome funds along with £299 for a new bench], both amounts going to general funds. There was also very generous donations totalling £280 to the Arboretum sponsorship fund.
Andy commented:” However the major news for 2019 was due to the hard work put in by Alan Barlow who obtained a grant from the Notts County Council Local improvement scheme. This funding is split between Notts County Council and East Leake Parish Council and is for a total of £28608 [£14308 each]. This has been used to improve the accessibility within the park. At the time of this report £10728 [75%] has been transferred from NCC to the Friends of Meadow Park account and thus the payment will be in the 2019/2020 accounts.”
Overall income for the year was a total of £12672 which along with the opening balance of £2085.82 giving a total of £14757.82 at the year end.
Expenditure for the year was £1501.36, the major items being£305 for nest boxes/wild flower seeds and plants, £311 plug plants/wild flower bulbs, £301 from the Arboretum account for new trees and associated equipment.
Andy concluded: “With the income for the year being £14757.82 and the expenditure being £1501.36 the overall balance at the of the account as at 31/10/2019 is £13256.46
This is allocated as: General Funds: £2037.56, Arboretum Fund: £490.9, and Path Accessibility Fund: £10728. The totals will be carried forward to the 2019/2020 financial year
Andy added that the figures are taken from the unexamined accounts. and that
the accounts Have been forwarded to Neil Lambert, the East Leake Parish Council Clerk for independent examination
NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH SCHEME APPEAL. East Leake Neighbourhood Watch Scheme would welcome an influx of both new co-ordinators and members.
Neighbourhood Watch works with the Police in the prevention and detection of crime. And it encourages a two way flow of information regarding potential or actual crimes. “As members of Neighbourhood Watch groups we look out for each other’s interests whilst away from home and we look for and report suspicious incidents.”
Members of the group are asked to remember to report anything suspicious they see, no matter how small it may seem, it being stressed to them that every little bit of information helps.
Neighborough Watch is a group of individuals who, by their concern for each other and the area in which they live, voluntarily act in conjunction with the Police in the prevention and detection of crime. Chief Co-ordinator for East Leake is Sarah Dickinson and she can be contacted on 01509 852108 / 07510123690
The parts of East Leake that are covered by Neighbourhood Watch each have an Area Co-ordinator, who covers one or more streets, usually involving 10 to 20 houses or other premises.
Members of a group look out for each other while they are away from home. They look for and report suspicious incidents. They may receive information passed from the Co-ordinator about particular risks at any one time and about information that the Police are seeking.
The success of Neighbourhood Watch is largely down to volunteers who give up their time to engage with their neighbourhoods and communities.
Co-ordinators are the first point of contact for local residents and the wider community and ensure a smooth flow of information and communication between the police and scheme members. The scheme is a valuable way of bringing people together to combat community issues and crime. Anyone can look out for suspicious activity around you and your neighbour’s property, especially over holiday periods and share information and reporting it accordingly.
Those who act as a co-ordinator have to welcome new residents to the NW scheme area and invite other neighbours to join, keep a list of names and emails/ numbers, set up a WhatsApp group, and circulate any information from relevant authorities. You can also arrange for NW signs to be put up in your area.
PROPOSAL TO MERGE MEDICAL PRACTICES. With increasing demands on GP services, proposals have been launched to merge the medical practices in East Leake and Keyworth.
East Leake Medical Practice also includes branches in Sutton Bonington and Ruddington and it currently serves nearly 14,000 patients across South Nottinghamshire.
Services currently provided by East Leake Medical Practice include the same-day access to GP appointments, telephone triage service, daily nurse-led minor illness clinics and specialist chronic disease management.
It is proposed that the administrative parts of the merger, if it goes ahead, would commence in April this year.
According to the merger proposals, the demands on GP services are increasing and it is getting harder to do all the things that patients and the NHS want.
Larger practices are felt to be more able to meet these challenges better than the current system because they can improve resilience by being able to share knowledge, work, staff, and training and resources.
It is also argued that larger practices create efficiencies by doing things once for all practices sites, for example administrative work and inspections.
Staff can also be shared, and opportunities created for existing staff to develop their career and so offer more and better services to patients.
It is also claimed that larger practices can take advantage of opportunities to take on new work and contracts that are not possible for smaller businesses.
In the short term it is claimed that patients will not notice many changes as preparations will have been made to ensure the administration side of merger is introduced smoothly
The intention of a merged practice would be able to increase the range of services and access to clinical advice to patients.
Patients of the East Leake Medical Group practice would not have to travel to Keyworth for current appointments in both the short and long term.
Patients may have a choice to do this in future as it is said that many people are already seeing GPs and nurses in the evenings at Keyworth and Wilford offered through the Rushcliffe Improving Access service.
Consultations are taking place in villages affected by the proposed merger merge and patients can also write or email their local medical centre with their views about the proposals.
FREE OUTDOOR GYM.
Keep-fit enthusiasts in East Leake are being encouraged to use free outdoor gym equipment in the village.
East Leake Parish Council says there is “a fabulous outdoor gym” located in Meadow Park. There are six pieces of gym equipment which enable a full body work-out in the fresh air for free.
The equipment is situated in a field known as ‘Playfield in the park and the area around the gym is kept mown short all the year round.