Many (most) of you will be aware of the National Shell Filling Factory explosion which occurred on 1st July 1918 on the site of the now Chetwynd Barracks. 134 people died (including some of the Canary Girls) and many more were injured on that fateful day.
Steve, our Community Development Focus Group Lead, has come across this description of the day in question presented by the History Chap:-
A word of warning, some of the description of the aftermath is quite graphic, so those of you of a nervous disposition beware!
As always please do feel free to ask any questions you may have on this or anything else via the Contact Us page, and we’ll do our best to answer them via the Questions and Answers page.
Jill Kingaby BSc (Econ) MSc MRTPI has been appointed to undertake the Independent Examination of the Neighbourhood Plan. This week we received the Independent Examiner’s Procedural letter setting out some initial requests for information. Most of the requests in the short term require Broxtowe to respond. However, one for us was for her letter to be added to our website, which we have done – see the updated Neighbourhood Plan page. We await further details of the examination process and timetable to be followed in due course.
In the meantime, the Steering Group are reviewing the Regulation 16 Consultation responses received by Broxtowe. If you are interested in taking a look they are available (with personal details redacted) on this page & scroll down to responses.
Beeston and District Civic Society are hosting some Heritage Open Days see here for further details. At the event next Wednesday 14th September the Forum will have a stand detailing the heritage assets on Chetwynd Barracks, including some of our ideas for re-purposing them once the MoD have vacated the site (currently scheduled for 2026) and its subsequent redevelopment. As you know we are keen to retain and re-use as many of these historical buildings as is feasible within our Neighbourhood Plan for the community to enjoy, and form a heritage trail within the site to keep the history alive!
So please do come along to the event at 6pm next Wednesday at the Royal British Legion, Hall Croft, Beeston (details via the link above) and come and say hello. There is also a talk during the evening about Boots from Local to Global, which I am sure will be of interest to many of you as a large local employer.
As always please do feel free to ask any questions you may have on this or anything else via the Contact Us page, and we’ll do our best to answer them via the Questions and Answers page.
Update: This Bid Failed.See This link for more information. (Note the information in the article is not completely accurate, the 4,500 homes figure is the capacity of Chetwynd Barracks + The Strategic Land for Growth. Chetwynd Barracks has a capacity of 1,500).
Across all forms of media from the BBC, Nottingham Post, Notts TV, NG9 News and more Toton has been in the spotlight following the new £40m bid from Nottinghamshire County Council for a share of the government’s “Levelling Up Fund”.
This is to help deliver the much needed housing and employment in our area. The housing allocation was originally set by central government and then passed to the local planning authority, in our case Broxtowe Borough Council, to provide the necessary land for development. Additionally, Chetwynd Barracks was deemed to be surplus to future requirements by the Ministry of Defence and included in the overall figures. Combined this makes our area highly important within the context of the larger strategic growth area being worked up by the East Midlands Development Company (EMDevCo).
The link road shown in the map below (Nottinghamshire County Council’s Draft Proposal) would provide access to the 1,500 proposed dwellings on the Chetwynd Barracks site, and the 2,000 to 3,000 proposed dwellings to the north of Toton both east and west of Stapleford Lane. This would also add the opportunity for new public transport provision, access to the proposed new Network Rail Toton Station and include walking and cycling facilities.
The provision of a new access road usually precedes a large-scale development as it makes it a more attractive proposition for developers, being both easier to sell or let the proposed dwellings, and giving more efficient access to the building site.
From a Neighbourhood Forum perspective we are broadly in favour of the scheme (as it aligns well with our aspirations & policies in our own Plan) and have written to Nottinghamshire County Council to this effect having also supported this approach in past meetings with them. The diagram above is indicative with further detail to follow as the planning process proceeds. In particular, the junction layout where the link road meets the A52, will need careful consideration/consultation.
Our key objectives for the area remain the same in creating a quality environment for new and future residents as demonstrated in the Neighbourhood Plan i.e.the delivery of high quality, energy efficient homes with accessible green spaces. A priority following local consultation was to ensure good access which did not create damaging levels of congestion on Stapleford Lane and Swiney Way. Everyone can remember the disruption that came with the delivery of NET! The proposed road will help divert both construction traffic and future residential traffic movement from Stapleford Lane and Swiney Way whilst also helping speed up the construction phase.
Ian C, Infrastructure Focus Group Lead
As always please do feel free to ask any questions you may have on this or anything else via the Contact Us page, and we’ll do our best to answer them via the Questions and Answers page.
The consultation on your Neighbourhood Plan closes this coming Friday 5th August. If you haven’t already done so, please respond in support of it. It has taken six long years and a lot of hard work by everyone, especially the Forum Steering Group (past & present), to get the Plan to this final consultation stage. It will then go before an Independent Examiner who will review all the documents and consultation responses before making their recommendation and before it can be put to all residents within the Forum Area (the two borough wards of Chilwell West and Toton & Chilwell Meadows) at a local referendum. Assuming it passes both these stages succesfully, the Neighbourhood Plan will be adopted by Broxtowe Borough Council, and then carry as much weight as the Local Plan for planning decions within our Area.
This consultation is your opportunity to show your support for the Plan. Submissions can be made online or via downloadable forms. We encourage as many of our members and friends as possible to respond in support of the Neighbourhood Plan, as it provides the framework, policies, aspirations and guidelines that will shape the future of Toton and Chilwell for years to come (up to 2040!).
Further details and how to respond can be found on our Plan Page and via the Broxtowe website. Thank you in anticipation of a good response.
A Forum member contacted us recently to let us know that they had had some difficulty in obtaining or reviewing a paper copy of the Neighbourhood Plan at the Council Offices, to aid their response to the consultation. In fact a copy was not available at all despite two visits! We don’t know if this is an isolated incident or if other people have had similar difficulties, so we have taken the unusual step to publicise this directly with everyone rather than just via the Questions and Answers page.
We wrote to the Council to raise this important issue, and received an apology on your behalf and the following response:-
“There should have been a paper copy of the Neighbourhood Plan available for ‘inspection’ within the Reception of the Council Offices; I don’t know if someone has removed the ‘inspection copy’ of the Plan, but I have asked if our Admin Team could print a replacement copy of the Plan and leave this in Reception.
I would like to sincerely apologise to the member of the public for the inconvenience caused. If anyone else has been experiencing difficulties in terms of inspecting the document at the Council Offices, I would encourage them to contact the Planning Policy Team by telephone 0115 917 7777 and asking for Planning Policy, or by sending an email to policy@broxtowe.gov.uk“
Please do not hesitate to contact Broxtowe as above if you have had similar difficulties.
As always please do feel free to ask any questions you may have on this or anything else via the Contact Us page – it really does work as per this case!
Broxtowe have extended the end date for the consultation by two weeks to Friday 5th August. We understand that this is to allow for discussion at the Council’s cabinet meeting on 19th July and for any comments to be made arising from this.
This consultation is your opportunity to show your support for the Plan. Submissions can be made online or via downloadable forms. We encourage as many of our members and friends as possible to respond in support of the Neighbourhood Plan, as it provides the framework, policies, aspirations and guidelines that will shape the future of Toton and Chilwell.
Two years after the Neighbourhood Plan was submitted, Broxtowe Borough Council has commenced the statutory Regulation 16 Consultation for the Neighbourhood Plan which runs from 8th June until 22nd July 2022. Full details and how to respond can be found on our Plan Page.
This consultation is your opportunity to show your support for the Plan. Submissions can be made online or via downloadable forms. We encourage as many of our members and friends as possible to respond in support of the Neighbourhood Plan, as it provides the framework, policies, aspirations and guidelines that will shape the future of Toton and Chilwell.
A couple of weeks ago, the Forum Steering Group became aware that some mature trees within the Neighbourhood Area had been felled and caused some concern with residents. As trees should not be felled at this time of year to protect nesting birds and as young pigeons had been found at the site of the felling, the Environmental Sub-group looked into the issue to see what was going on. This is what we found:
Mr Wood (the Broxtowe Tree Man) initially examined the trees when a large branch fell into a neighbouring garden in December 2021. Upon examining the trees he found them to be diseased, unstable and potentially dangerous. The trees were due to be felled during March but bad weather intervened. As Ash do not come into leaf until later in the year and birds do not tend to nest in trees without foliage, it was considered timely to proceed with felling the trees. They were checked again before felling began.
Upon inspection of adjacent conifers, two nests were found, one of which was empty. It would appear therefore that the chicks had fallen from this nest. The incident was regrettable but not quite as it had been broadcast to residents. The posters which had been displayed, anonymously, on the gate and posts appeared to incite readers to hold Chris Riley to blame. He had no part whatsoever in any decision to fell trees.
We thought you might also like to be aware of Broxtowe’s activities on tree planting
Since 2009, Broxtowe Borough Council has planted 112 000 trees!
In 2019 Broxtowe Council declared a Climate Emergency, and pledged to plant 2,000 trees a year but in actual fact planted 3,000 last year and the year before. Sites and types are thoughtfully chosen. Once planted they have to be managed. Mr Wood is Broxtowe’s tree man. He knows his job and knows his trees. Sometimes trees have to be felled. This is a costly job which the Council can only afford to do if absolutely necessary. Pruning or raising the canopy will be attempted first, if appropriate. When a tree is diseased, its wood loses vigour and its roots become weak and it may pose a danger to people or buildings. The Council does not have money to waste so, the rule of thumb is only chop it down if it’s dead, dying or dangerous.
As part of the rewilding programme, wood is often allowed to decay in situ or elsewhere. This affords habitat to wildlife and is a natural process which cannot take place if the tree is all cleared away.
Broxtowe have also planted thousands of native bulbs and flowers to further enrich our parks and green spaces. Many of these have been planted with the involvement of schoolchildren and community groups. Again, they are carefully chosen and appropriately sited.
Although we don’t always see eye to eye with the Council, Broxtowe Council is doing its best to enhance the local environment within its limited budget. In this case all proper procedures seem to have been followed and the disturbance of the pigeons was unfortunate but certainly not deliberate.
Finally a Community Group (Canopy 2050 – look on Facebook) are working to increase the number of trees available for Broxtowe plant.
This is a follow-up to last week’s Digest about the lack of progress with the Neighbourhood Plan.
We have this week written a formal letter of complaint to Broxtowe’s Chief Executive & Head of Planning. It can also be accessed via the Plan page of the website.
The letter was also forwarded to all our elected representatives covering the Forum Area to ask them to intervene and support the Forum by ensuring that Broxtowe commence the statutory Regulation 16 consultation before the end of May.
Now we are asking all of you, our members and friends, to write similarly to those same councillors and MP to increase the pressure from their constituents about the unacceptable delays in Broxtowe progressing the Neighbourhood Plan. An expression of the strength of feeling and frustration felt by the community about this should help all of us move forward. The necessary contact details are:
Thank you in anticipation of a deluge of emails & letters to hit their inboxes next week!
Once we have received a formal response to our complaint, we will publish it in the Digest newsletter, and it will be interesting to hear what responses you also receive.
As always please do feel free to ask any questions you may have on this or anything else via the Contact Us page, and we’ll do our best to answer them via the Questions and Answers page.
