114-homes plan on site of former gasworks site
CIVIC SOCIETY HAS CONCERNS ABOUT ‘REPETITIVE LAYOUT’
MORE than 100 houses would be built on a former gasworks site if plans are approved by the city council.
A large part of the former British Gas Works site on Radford Road, New Basford, would be transformed into a estate of 114 homes if permission is granted at Nottingham City Council’s planning committee on Wednesday.
The space is currently undeveloped, with a council report stating it was “disused and overgrown” after many years vacant. The area is bounded to the north by Basford Depot – a gas pipeline and infrastructure site.
There would be 71 two-bed houses and 43 three-bed houses at the housing development, with a mix of terraced, semi-detached and detached properties with parking provided mainly front of the properties. Permission has already been granted for a vet’s surgery and police custody suite within the wider gas works site.
The site was granted outline planning permission in 2006 for mixed use purposes, business, retail, residential, community facilities, car showroom, as well as a new access.
A more detailed plan was approved later but work was never started at the site.
In comments about the original plan Nottingham Civic Society said: “Nottingham Civic Society has some reservations about the design and layout of the proposed housing site in New Basford.
“The layout is repetitive and somewhat unimaginative whilst the townscape itself is difficult to appraise in the complete absence of any street or other perspectives.
“The small houses could be promising in their design if some more detail was included.
The three storey ‘back-to-back’ house type could have been deployed to create a more positive impact on the Radford Road frontage – reinforcing the townscape of traditionally taller buildings on the opposite side of Radford Road.
“The proposed public open space, sited to double as flash-flood attenuation up to two metres in depth, will need careful design to safeguard children at play. Combining usable, safe and attractive children’s play space at the centre of the development with the collection and storage of flash floodwater needs to be illustrated and detailed as part of this permission.”
A council report said the scheme had been the subject of extensive discussions with the council’s design team.
After the comments from Nottingham Civic Society the plan was changed to add green and amenity space and parking spaces were reduced in an effort to make sure parked cars would not dominate the street.
A planning document, submitted by the applicant Strata to Nottingham City Council, said: “Our proposal involves the creation of 114 new homes which will help Nottingham City Council meet their housing needs.
“We have shown, through this document and the supporting details submitted with this application, how we have considered the site and its surrounding environment in physical, social and economic terms and explained how these factors have influenced the evolution of the site design, both in conceptual and detailed terms, to its current proposal”. The application has been recommended to be granted, and is awaiting the decision by the planning committee.
The small houses could be promising in their design if more detail was included
Nottingham Civic Society