Linby & Papplewick

Hucknall Rotary Club meets in the adjacent picturesque village of Linby.  Traditionally, Linby Village was considered the start of Sherwood Forest the home of Robin Hood.  Neighbouring village Papplewick was also considered as a gateway to the medieval Sherwood Forest.   The rural communities of Linby and Papplewick are served by the small town of Hucknall.  The current infrastructures of these communities are such that all resources are stretched to capacity.

Horse & Groom, Linby (Home of Hucknall Rotary Club)

Hucknall falls with the boundaries of Ashfield District Council.  Linby and Papplewick are the furthest borders of Gedling Borough Council.  Gedling Borough Council have identified agricultural land  in Linby and Papplewick (land that locals thought was green belt, but apparently redefined by the stroke of a politicians pen) as suitable site for building development.

In interest for the local community, I attended a public meeting this evening to address the proposals.  Although Gedling Borough Council, felt that they had met consultation requirements, it was clear from the comments made that the consultation process was not adequate enough and little consultation had actually taken place in the villages affected by the proposals.  The ‘evidence’ put forward by the Housing Officer did not add up.  It also seemed that important reports that would highlight the lack of resources such as adequate health care were not available yet.  Council documents were produced that contradicted current plans and deemed to carry a ‘typo’.

The document in question referred to green land being transferred into white land, and white land being protected from development.  The typing mistake was the word ‘from’  which should have been ‘for’.  A small word which changes the whole context!

Papplewick

The roads through the villages cannot handle current traffic levels, let alone any increase from new housing.  There are minor incidents most days and tragically, every year sees a couple of serious accidents.  There is no scope for by-passing the villages.  This is not a political blog.  As a Rotarian, I’m non-political and non-sectarian.  Any impartial observer can see that the proposals by Gedling Borough Council are unsustainable and impractical, despite whatever language they dress-up the plans in.  If you are familiar with the landscape, common sense will tell you that 1.600 new house builds are unviable in this area. 

The Council’s consultationdocuments can be found here.   

If you are local, and have not voiced your opinion, personally I would encourage you to do so a.s.a.p.

This is not an exercise in nimbyism (Not In My Back Yard) in Linby, but genuine concern that the local vicinity has not got the infrastructure to cope with the building proposals.