Q1. Why is this site coming forward for development?
A1: The land at Gamston Fields has been allocated (i.e. selected) for development by Rushcliffe Borough Council in their 2014 Core Strategy document. The Core Strategy sets out where new development should be located across the Borough and the land has been earmarked for a new community of up to 4,000 new homes, employment land, local centre and other community uses.
You can review the Core Strategy policy here.
Q2. How many homes will be delivered?
A2. The first outline planning application bring prepared by Barwood Land and Taylor Wimpey covers about half the site and will seek permission for the first phase of the project. This will include new transport infrastructure, c.2,250 new homes, a primary school, significant areas of public open space and sports provision.
The emerging Masterplan for the whole site will provide c.4,000 new homes (with 2,500 homes to be provided up to 2028) in line with the Core Strategy requirement.
Q3. What will be delivered in terms of services on the site?
A3. The whole allocated site once completed will deliver the following:
- Two primary schools and one secondary school.
- Approximately 20 hectares of new employment space, with the potential to provide c.3,800 new jobs.
- Potential for new health care services - the form of these will be subject to discussion with the NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group.
- Significant new highways infrastructure.
- A local centre providing small scale retail and other services (such as hairdressers, dentists). The type of services provided will be confirmed as the proposals progress.
- Significant areas of public open space (c.65 hectares), including enhancements to the Grantham Canal side and the provision of an outdoor fitness trail. Also proposed is a linear park to run through the site to protect the setting of the Second World War pillboxes on site.
- New bus service and improvements to existing bus services.
Barwood Land and Taylor Wimpey are creating an overarching Masterplan to guide development of the whole site allocated for development.
The first outline planning application by Barwood Land and Taylor Wimpey will seek permission for the first phase of the project and covers about half of the site. This will include details of;
- New transport infrastructure.
- Indicative locations for c.2,250 of the new homes, first primary school, significant areas of public open space and sports provision.
The remaining elements of the site would be delivered in accordance with the Masterplan, but via subsequent planning applications in a phased manner.
Q4. When will the first outline planning application be submitted?
A4. The outline planning application will be submitted to Rushcliffe Borough Council by Christmas 2020. This will determine the principle of development in this area and if the proposed access arrangements to the site via the A52 are acceptable.
Should outline planning permission be granted, further separate detailed planning applications (known as reserved matters applications) will be submitted to the Council for determination.
Q5. How will access and movement to and from the site be managed?
A5. The vehicle access strategy has been designed to deter rat running south of the site along Tollerton Lane by making the quickest and most direct route out of the site to the north west, via the new A52 roundabout junction.
This new roundabout junction on the A52 and Ambleside will form the principal vehicle access to the development, with most of the vehicle traffic expected to access and leave the site from this new junction onto the A52.
The detailed design of this access will be secured through the forthcoming outline planning application. A secondary point of access to Tollerton Lane will be provided as a ‘left in, left out’ arrangement.
For an initial period prior to delivery of the A52 / Ambleside roundabout, the site will be initially accessed via Tollerton Lane with an upgraded signalised junction onto the A52 – this will be downgraded following completion of the main access roundabout.
Other features are also being considered to deter rat running, including downgrading the highway south of the site and traffic calming.
A new bus service and improvements to the existing service will be secured through the outline planning application and discussions with bus operators are ongoing. This combined with a network of pedestrian and cycle routes, both around the site and linking with Gamston across the A52, will help to promote non car transport options for localised journeys.
Q6. Will the airport cease operations? If so, will these be rediverted elsewhere?
A6. The airport will be unaffected by the first outline planning application being brought forward by Barwood Land and Taylor Wimpey and will continue to operate, until development comes forward for the remainder of the allocation site.
A specialist aviation consultant will advise throughout the course of the planning application and when work starts on site, to ensure that the first stage of the proposals do not disrupt the ongoing operations at the airfield.
Q7. There are several Second World War Pill Boxes on the site, what will be the impact on these? Will they be retained?
A7. Yes, the pill boxes on site will be retained and will become a key feature of the proposals. It is proposed that a linear park is provided to run through the site, to protect and enhance the setting of the pill boxes. These will remain in situ for existing and future residents to enjoy.
Q8. The site lies immediately south of the Grantham Canal, will this be a flood risk issue?
A8. Flood maps produced by the Environment Agency show that there are no areas at risk of flooding within the site boundary. Notwithstanding this a comprehensive Sustainable Urban Drainage system (SuDS) is proposed to manage surface water drainage on the site.
The SuDs will include drainage attenuation ponds located across the site to ensure that surface water is collected, stored and discharged from the site in a controlled manner. Several of these ponds will be located on the north and east boundaries of the site, close to the Grantham Canal, helping to control the discharge of surface water.
A flood risk assessment will be provided as part of the outline planning application and will include full details on the proposed SuDS strategy.