Rushcliffe Council Council has approved the application for a development of 280 homes in Radcliffe on Trent.
The new 28-acre development has been given the go-ahead north of the A52 Grantham Road near to St James business park.
The decision also signs off a remodelled junction to the A52 with four-arm traffic signalling leading to the new estate.
The development will feature a wildlife corridor, a park and has provisioned a cycleway adjacent to the A52.
The application to create the development has faced an onslaught of criticism from local residents since it was validated in June 2019.
Many of the comments raised concerns over the increased pressure on A52 traffic on the area.
The 280-dwelling development is one of several proposed changes outlined in the Radcliffe Neighbourhood Plan, which was backed by a local residents’ referendum in 2017.
This forms part of the 400 minimum new homes that were provisioned for when the Neighbourhood Plan was revised in 2017.
Planned site off Grantham Road | © AT Architecture Ltd
Speaking exclusively to Nottingham Post, Radcliffe on Trent Councillor Roger Upton said: “This housing site is allocated in the Rushcliffe Local Development Plan and 30% of the homes will be ‘affordable’.
“The site is in a prominent location on the eastern approach to Radcliffe, and it is important that it provides a visually attractive entrance to the village.
“I can understand why some residents don’t want this development, rarely do any planning proposals get unanimous support, but the reality is that the UK has a housing crisis and needs to build at least 300,000 new homes every year. It is never easy to decide where these new homes should be located, but we have to respond to Government pressure to deliver more housing.
“In mitigation, the developer will pay towards improvements to local schools, health, and roads through section 106 and community infrastructure charges.”
James Beverley of Fisher German, the developers that secured planning permission for the site, speaking exclusively to Business Desk said: “We were extremely pleased to get the green belt land allocated for housing and then ultimately achieve planning permission for the site on behalf of our client.
“Part 1 of the Rushcliffe Local Plan considerably underdelivered on the number of houses required. We therefore worked to promote the release of the site from the green belt through the Part 2 plan, ensuring the delivery of housing and reducing significant development pressures on the limited number of settlements outside of the green belt.
“When working on the planning application we encountered a number of challenges but were able to resolve these to the satisfaction of the relevant statutory consultees.
“We worked constructively with Network Rail successfully demonstrating that the new drainage system being introduced would take water away from their infrastructure so was a betterment to them.
“We also experienced challenges relating to junction works to the A52, which is part of Highways England’s strategic highway network.
“We worked with Highways England to demonstrate that the changes, which included remodelling of the existing junction and adding traffic lights, would benefit both the development and others living and working in the area who would find it easier to turn onto the strategic road.
“This is the second green belt site we have successfully progressed on behalf of the client, and we now look forward to seeing the sale of the site being completed and much needed homes being delivered.”
