Hucknall traveller site plan gets the green light after successful appeal

The council refused the plans for land on part of a paddock to the rear of a bungalow on Roberts Lane – which also provides access to Hillside Primary School – in February last year.

But Government planning inspector has now overturned that ruling following an appeal by the applicant.

The decision has been met with dismay by local residents who objected to the original plans.

One said: “You’ve got 40 people who don’t want this and one who does and the decision goes with him.

"I just cannot understand how that can be the case.”

The decision was also slammed by Coun Dave Shaw (Ash Ind), who represents Hucknall West on both Ashfield and Nottinghamshire Council.

He said: “We are bitterly disappointed that the Labour Government-appointed Planning Inspectorate has overturned the planning committee’s democratic decision.

"This is yet another example of out-of-touch decision makers, appointed by Labour, making a mockery of the whole planning process.

"It is a clear sign of things to come and another example of the new Labour Government treating Hucknall with complete contempt.”

In refusing the initial application, councillors said Roberts Lane was a private road and expressed concerns over the lack of passing or turning facilities, limited visibility at the site entrance, the potential impact on highway safety and to pedestrians at the nearby school, as well as the ecological impact of the development.

However, an appeal was submitted last autumn by the applicant, Mr A Connors, which said Roberts Lane was ‘an unadopted highway which already serves six houses’, adding that work to build a futher four bungalows was underway.

It said the suggestion that there was limited visibility at the entrance to the school was ‘simply incorrect’ and that the Local Highway Authority had said that the development ‘would not appear to create a significant impact on the highway’.

The appeal also challenged the council’s concerns over the impact on the ecology of the site.

In his report, the inspector said that council’s initial concerns over lack of passing or turning facilties ‘lacked credibility’ as such facilities would be provided by the ongoing works to build four new bungalows at the site.

He said: "The further suggestion that any turning or passing vehicles would block the entrance to these properties, and have an impact on their occupants, overlooks the transitory and temporary nature of any potential inconvenience.”

On the concerns over limited visibility at the road entrance, he said intervisibility was ‘available along the full length of the road’ and there was ‘nothing that leads me to believe that vegetation is likely to be a material impediment to the safety of persons using the road’

He acknowledged potential concerns about the vicinity of the school entrance, especially at pick-up and drop-off times, but said in his opinion, this would ‘not amount to a material increase in potential dangers’ and that he was ‘satisfied that the proposal would not have an adverse effect on highway safety’.

On the ecological concerns, he said a ‘competent appraisal should identify all likely ecological constraints’ and that the plans would ‘not have an adverse effect on the natural environment’