HS2 land won’t be sold to fund pothole repairs
‘OPPORTUNITIES WILL BE CREATED’ FOR AREA THAT HAD BEEN EARMARKED FOR STATION, SAYS LEADER
A PLAN to sell off a “nationally significant” parcel of land in Toton and spend the money generated on fixing Nottinghamshire’s potholes has been rejected.
The 56-acre plot of land was originally earmarked for development as part of plans for a HS2 station to be built at Toton.
But the station plans were scrapped in favour of a shortened line to East Midlands Parkway station. Rishi Sunak then announced at last year’s Conservative Party conference that the entire northern leg of HS2 was being axed.
Nottinghamshire County Council purchased the plot of land for £22 million in 2019, with plans including thousands of new homes.
Given these plans were made in conjunction with the scrapped HS2 proposal, the Independent Alliance opposition group at Nottinghamshire County Council argue that selling the Toton land is a “no-brainer.”
The group have pointed to comments made by Councillor Keith Girling, the county council’s cabinet member for economic development, at a recent meeting where he said there were no plans for the future of the Toton land.
But rejecting the plan to sell it, council leader Ben Bradley said: “[The Independent Alliance] deliberately pick just the bits of information that suit their argument. That’s always been the case in their budget amendments.
“We’re the landowner for those sites but they are of regional and national significance in terms of the scale of opportunity there.
“Keith quite rightly said we don’t know if we’re going to sell that land or if we’re going to enter into a joint venture or if we’re going to work with somebody else to deliver something there.
“That doesn’t mean that there are no plans. We will create opportunities for residents around Broxtowe and Nottingham for many, many years.”
The Independent Alliance’s plan would have involved an extra £10 million for roads during the upcoming financial year, beginning in April, and another £10 million for the year after.
The first £10 million would be borrowed before the Toton land sale generates revenue in time for the financial year starting in 2025.
The parcel of land has planning permission for 282 homes and the county council has previously said it will work with Broxtowe Borough Council and the East Midlands Development Corporation to decide its future.
Councillor Francis Purdue-horan, the finance spokesperson for the Independent Alliance, previously said: “Ask anybody in Nottinghamshire what complaints they have and they will talk about the broken roads and pavements.
“Our budget amendment is a direct response to this. It is a common sense move and deals with land the county council don’t need.”
But pointing to an extra £4 million for roads maintenance in its budget, on top of the £29 million already planned for next year, Councillor Bradley added: “We don’t need to sacrifice decades of opportunity for local people. We’re able to do both [development at Toton and roads investment] and I think it’s wrong of the independents to try and present this as a binary choice.
“What we’re saying, as the administration, is we intend to do both of those things.”
The idea was officially rejected at the county council’s annual budget meeting on Thursday at which the overall budget, including a 4.84% council tax rise, was approved.