Rushcliffe District Group
From early in 1996 the Nottinghamshire Branch of CPRE was fortunate in having a part-time Branch Development Officer, Heather Grover, funded for two years by National Office. One of Heather's main objectives was to establish local groups within the Branch and Rushcliffe was one of those.
The official launch of the Group took place in Ruddington at the Framework Knitters Museum on 10th April 1997 and was extremely well attended. The fifty or so folk who turned up were enthusiastic and vocal. Heather introduced Emma Cox from National Office and between them they ran the meeting, allowing plenty of time for discussion of the features of life in Rushcliffe most valued by residents, as well as the perceived threats.
Heartened by this response, Heather organised a follow up meeting very quickly for individuals who wanted to be active in the Group to begin to discuss how it might be organised. Thus the Steering Group was born and, at that first meeting, saw its roles as: monitoring planning applications; responding to the Local Plan Review; contributing to National or Branch level CPRE campaigns; and raising the profile of CPRE in the Borough.
Looking back it seems opportune that the Rushcliffe Group was formed just after the adoption of a new County Structure Plan which allocated a huge amount of housing to the Borough. At the time it seemed very daunting, but the widespread anxiety about the likely effects on a largely rural area of such a big allocation certainly helped to generate the enthusiasm which got the Group off the ground.
From the beginning we were determined that the Group should be run as informally as possible with the minimum of time and effort spent on administration. We have an elected Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer but the other members of the Steering Group are not elected - we welcome any member who lives in Rushcliffe to our meetings and have no objection to someone attending for a while, perhaps because of some particular issue, and then retiring to the "back benches" again.
Several of the original Steering Group members are still in situ, others are still Rushcliffe members but not currently part of the Steering Group, and of course some have moved elsewhere, but different folk have replaced them. We usually meet about once every six weeks, but more often when the need arises; the deadline for response to a draft of the Local Plan has been known to necessitate weekly meetings for a short while. Thank heavens for email and the availability of consultation documents on the web; the internet has certainly made working as a group without doing too much travelling much easier.
So, we continue. Our aims remain the same; we want to protect the countryside of Rushcliffe and to promote the development of the Borough in a way which improves the quality of life for those in both urban and rural areas. The threats also remain, with fierce disagreement as to where new housing should go and the likelihood of increased housing allocations in the next few years, as well as schemes for the improvement of the major transport routes through the Borough which, in themselves, will inevitably increase the pressure for yet more housing and more employment sites in the rural areas.
The Steering Group will continue to respond through involvement in the consultation process of the emerging Local Development Framework, as well as representing CPRE on various committees, and through commenting on planning applications.
We will do so more effectively if we have support and input from residents throughout the Borough and we value views from members, either on individual development proposals or on the whole direction of development in Rushcliffe. Please get in touch with us if you have any concerns, or suggestions.
Report for Rushcliffe District Group for January - August 2007
In the New Year the Rushcliffe Group’s first meeting was largely taken up with transport. Disappointment, though not surprise, was expressed that the final version of the NEMA Forward Plan included little or no concession to the environment – despite the efforts of CPRE and others during the consultation phase. Activity on the NET Phase 2 increased as consultants tried to discover who owned land adjacent to the projected lines, and Sustrans proposed a bridge for cyclists across the Trent from Beeston to Clifton!
In March we held our AGM at which Tony Kemmer was the speaker, reflecting on his impressions of CPRE after nine months as Regional Chairman.
During May demolition was on the agenda. First we objected to an application to demolish a large house and replace it with new housing very different in character from the surrounding area. Then we were approached by villagers trying to save their traditional pub from demolition, and discovered to our surprise that no planning permission was required (the building being neither listed nor in a conservation area). We live and learn!
By June we were back to transport, having studied the detailed case for the NET Phase 2 and submitted our concerns about the environmental effects, in particular the proposed large park-and-ride site in the Green Belt beyond Clifton. This area was also the focus of our objections to the most recent plans for improving the A453 which include a considerable length of new road at Barton-in-Fabis and Thrumpton.
Carol Collins
Autumn 2007
The local contact for the Rushcliffe District Group is:
Carol Collins,
Hon.Sec. Rushcliffe CPRE,
Church End,
61 Main Street,
Kinoulton,
Notts
NG12 3EL
