Hucknall Tories and developers hit out at Ashfield Independents and council over town road-naming row

But the Ashfield Independents-led council has wholly denied the accusations

Local developers were left in anger and disbelief after being told by the council that Holland Gardens, their choice of road name for the new development off Watnall Road, had been rejected and that it was instead to be named Brough Gardens in memory of well-known Hucknall man Jamie Brough.

Jamie tragically died earlier this year while on holiday and the inquest into his death concluded last month with Gordon Clow, assistant coroner for Nottinghamshire, recording a narrative verdict.

The small six-plot development off Watnall Road has been built by Wayne Holland and Mark Yarlett and this is the first time they have had to go through the council’s road-naming process.

But when they queried why their proposals to call it Holland Gardens had been rejected, they say they were informed by officers that the orders had come ‘from above’.

Furthermore, the developers claim the Brough family had reportedly already been told of the decision before any consultation had taken place.

Mr Yarlett said: “We are so angry to have been treated this way by the council.

"To find out that the family had been informed before we had been consulted was disgraceful, putting ourselves and the Brough family in a very difficult position.

"This has not only caused a huge amount of stress to those involved but it is now delaying completion of the project.”

Mr Holland added: “There’s been no consultation, the council has simply said there was no significant objections to it being called Brough Gardens so it’s being called Brough Gardens.

“I knew Jamie personally for a lot of years and I had a lot of time for him but we don’t want to call this development Brough Gardens.

"But the position I was put in with this, where I had to ring Jamie’s widow and tell her we were going to object to the decision, left me feeling really awkward about it.

"The fact is, under no circumstances is it going to be called that.”

Questions have now been raised about the lawfulness of the decision.

Conservative pair Coun Kevin Rostance and Coun Chris Baron, who both represent Hucknall West, objected to the road-naming proposals and have agreed to take matters further.

Coun Rostance, the Conservative group leader, said: “It is so important as a councillor to be honest and transparent – it is clear this has not been the case here.

"Following these serious allegations, I spoke with the chief executive and council’s monitoring officer to seek some reassurances.

“I was advised at the meeting that the council will conduct a full investigation into this matter.”

Coun Baron added: “I am very fearful of what I believe is a rotten culture that appears to be developing within Ashfield District Council.

"This needs a full investigation, and I am glad that officers have agreed to look into the matter further.”

The Dispatch contacted the council with regards to the road naming and was initially told: “The council is following a legal process which is underway and is unable to comment further at this time.”

But Coun Jason Zadrozny-Bland (Ash Ind), the council leader, said: “We have just done the first stage of consultation as per our policies and stage two hasn't commenced yet, so the behind-closed-doors thing from the opposition is rubbish.

“We have followed all legal procedures properly and transparently and will be progressing with stage two, the full consultation imminently.

“Obviously the law would never allow Mr Holland to name the street after his family whereas due to the huge community work Jamie gave to Hucknall, policies would allow him to be remembered.

"This is nothing to do with politics but simply paying a fitting tribute to a person who gave his all to helping his local area.

Coun Zadrozny-Bland went on to highlight the council’s policy on road naming.

He continued: “Good practice conventions try to avoid duplications of names, street names sounding the same as existing ones and unsuitable names.

"Names of living people will not be considered at all and names of the deceased will only be considered 50 years after their death.

"An exception may be made if the person has made some contribution of national or local significance, such as significant community involvement.

"In this case, the developer put their suggestion of Holland Gardens to the council in early July 2022.

"I understand this is after the developer’s father and as such would not comply.

"The developer’s ability to appeal under the legislation has expired.

“Under a separate section of the legislation, the council put forward an alternative suggestion of Brough Gardens.

"On July 15, the council commenced the informal consultation with the developers, local councillors, emergency services and Royal Mail with a closing date for comments of July 22 at 5pm.

“Comments have been received as part of this informal consultation and the council is considering those comments.

"The next stage would be to put the statutory notice on site publicly stating the council’s preferred name for the street.

"This has not yet been posted, pending considering the comments received to date.

"Once the notice is posted the street would be formally named by the council one month later unless an appeal is lodged by an aggrieved person as set out in the legislation

"The final council decision is made in accordance with the legislation, its policy and the constitution.

"In accordance with the constitutional schemes of delegation, the leader will sign off the final formal decision once the above statutory process has been followed.”