Call to save Hucknall residents' group as town faces 'huge' fight against housing plans

Sally Wyatt, 74, chairperson of the Reach Out Residents’ group in West Hucknall, addressed members at a meeting this week and revealed her plans to step down – sparking concerns it could fold.

Well-known Sally is also the group’s secretary and does most of the fundraising and event co-ordination. She has been involved for almost 25 years.

Speaking to the Dispatch, she explained her hope that the group will continue, especially with the need for a community voice around things like controversial housing proposals, including 3,000 homes at Whyburn Farm and 100 on Misk Hills in the group’s heartland.

She said: “We really need younger people to step up and volunteer in admin roles because otherwise the group won’t survive and Hucknall needs groups like Reach Out.

“Reach Out brings the community together, it informs the community, it brings statutory bodies together and holds them to account.

"Hucknall faces a huge problem with new housing in the coming years because it has no infrastructure, it needs more doctors, it needs everything and we just haven’t got the infrastructure for all these new houses.

"That’s why groups like Reach Out are so important, if someone brings a concern or matter to our meeting, we get on to it and get something done.

"But for that to continue, we need the group to continue and fundamentally what we we really need are people to step up to do the admin side of things, fill in the forms and do the paperwork that this group needs to keep going.”

In her statement at the meeting, Sally said: “I have decided that unless you find a new chair before the AGM this September, who will be willing to take on all these tasks or find others to do some of the work, then I will carry on until the AGM in September 2023.

"That gives you all a year. At present this will mean the group will have to fold at that point as it is unsustainable.

“I felt it right to tell you now so you have plenty of time to make a decision about the future. It is in your hands and now it is over to you to step up or see this group close.”