Residents back ‘Unity’ homes plan
BUT IT WILL COST £500,000 JUST TO ERADICATE KNOTWEED
PLANS for a £1million investment to create 11 homes and a community park in Bramcote have been backed by residents.
Bramcote Unity Park would transform land along Bramcote Ridge for housing and provide public green space.
Nestled within three protected sites - the Alexandria Plantation, Sandy Lane Nature Reserve and the Deddington Plantation - Bramcote Unity Park aims to be the “missing piece” to create a unified 39-acre area of parkland.
The crosses the city/county boundary so separate planning applications were submitted to both Broxtowe Borough Council and Nottingham City Council. A planning decision being made this month.
Andrew Rutherford, part of the team behind the project, said: “It’s taken a year to get to this stage as the council has been requesting more reports on the land, which we have been supplying.
“But we have also been asking members of the Bramcote Neighbourhood Forum for their views and delving into more detail to air some of the issues people have raised.”
In a virtual meeting on July 9, residents met to discuss their views. Of 61 attendees, 91 percent voted and, of those, 88 percent were in favour of the plan.
Mr Rutherford added: “At the beginning of the meeting, there was a 61 percent approval, but by the end it was 88 percent, so I think once people became more aware of our aims, they were more on board.
“I just hope that the council will see the benefit of the park, but I understand it’s trying to find the balance between the ecological side and the enabling development of the homes.”
Part of the funds from the developments will go towards eradicating
Japanese knotweed, which Mr Rutherford has warned could devastate the site.
“It’ll cost £500,000 just to remove the Japanese knotweed, so that money has to come from somewhere.”
Plans to create a Charitable Incorporated Company (CIC) to protect the future of the land had been successful, and a board of trustees is already forming.
A statement on the Bramcote Unity Park website says: “Over 70 percent of the privately owned land will be gifted into a CIC with a strict covenant that the land cannot be sold or built on, that it must be an open park for community use.”
Mr Rutherford said there had been significant interest in the people wanting to join the board but admitted that there would “always be naysayers”.
“It’s a crunch point now, but I just want people to understand what will happen if this is not approved,” he added.
“We could end up with the first privately funded, publicly owned park in Nottingham, or we could be looking a the largest single stand of knotweed which will take over the site.”
Wollaton resident Dave Mann, 38, is a trustee on the board and, will become its chair if the plan goes ahead.
He said: “I think people have been really positive from the early unveiling of the plans, and while there may be some misconceptions of what was happening, I think there is a great amount to gain from a small development.”