‘I suppose it was our turn to have some’ IT ALL END?
VILLAGERS ACCEPT NEW HOMES ARE NEEDED – BUT ASK: WHERE WILL
LIKE many villages and suburbs in Nottinghamshire, Keyworth is expanding because of the scale of new house building.
Various developers have proposed to build hundreds of new homes on a number of sites - mirroring what is happening in East Leake and Ruddington, also in Rushcliffe.
People in Keyworth had a range of opinions when we asked them about the changing village landscape - some pointing out that local businesses could benefit from more customers and another conceding “it was our turn to have some houses”.
Waiting at a bus stop off The Square, Robert Robinson, 69, said: “I would think the new homes will make the existing shops more viable - so there’s more people.
“This shopping centre, for instance, would be having more potential customers. So I think I would be neutral to positive about that. I think the shops are adequate, there’s two shopping centres in Keyworth. People have to live somewhere.”
Mr Robinson, a retired chartered engineer for Boots, who himself lives in Kinoulton, also spoke about the loss of green fields.
“I don’t think there’s enough brownfield sites for new houses,” he said.
“Brownfield sites don’t seem to be so attractive for new-builds as greenfield.”
One big new estate is located north of Bunny Lane, with Bloor Homes having pledged to build 221 new homes. Another developer is set to build 151 homes on Nicker Hill.
However, the prices of new homes are a concern for a 63-yearold woman.
The retired cleaner and bus conductor, of Fairham Road, said: “I just wish they would build some council houses, instead of these for the rich people. I’m in a threebedroomed house. If I could get a bungalow I would do but there are none - they have sold them all.”
She said she’d like “different shops” to open in Keyworth.
“A Farmfoods or something like that or an Iceland,” she said. “We don’t need two Co-ops.”
Others said schooling was a problem.
A retired sales consultant, who has lived in the village for 25 years, said: “It’s getting too big. It’s just shrinking everything too much. Then there are the other issues.
“I do not have a young family now, they have grown up. My nextdoor neighbour has a young family. One child is at one school and the other child can’t get into the same school, the primary. They are going to appeal. To me that is wrong. And again there’s going to be a lot more kids.”
The 68-year-old man, who asked not to be named, added: “You build all these estates, what happens in another 10-20 years?
“Do we just get bigger and bigger in the future? Where does it all end?”
The Spinners Croft estate, Platt
Lane, is another of the village’s big new developments, of 187 homes.
Meanwhile, proposals for 97 homes south of Bunny Lane were withdrawn, in light of comments made during the planning process, so a new application can be re-submitted addressing the matters raised.
One woman suggested a new secondary school for the village.
The 77-year-old retired county council worker, of Walton Drive, said: “I think they are necessary [new homes] but there’s not the infrastructure to cope. With the doctor’s and places like that, you will not be able to get in.
“I think you will have difficulty getting an appointment with all these new houses. The medical practice is not that old - actually it’s relatively new. It needs to be bigger.
“It needs to cope with the extra people and I think the schools will be oversubscribed well.”
The resident, who asked to remain anonymous, added: “Perhaps we could do with a new secondary school.”
Her friend, a retired 74-year-old finance worker, also of Walton Drive, said: “It was our turn to have some houses. We had been lucky, we had escaped. Bingham has had it, Ruddington and East Leake. I suppose it’s our turn to have some - we have fields all around us.”