Proposals for planning future development in the district published

Every Council in the Country is legally required to set out a plan for how it will accommodate the future housing needs of its local community which in the case of Newark and Sherwood, includes its long-established Gypsy and Traveller community.

For the period up until 2033, an minimum of 118 pitches are required to be provided and the District Council intends to meet this need across a number of sites. The largest number of new pitches will be provided at the current Tolney Lane site, along with extensive flood mitigation works and some re-modelling of the Tolney Lane sites to improve its safety. The remainder of pitches are proposed to be in Ollerton (22 on existing sites), Chestnut Lodge, Barnby-in-the-Willows (20), Land North of Winthorpe Road, Newark (14), Appleby Lodge on Barnby Road, Newark (2) and the former Belvoir Iron Works, Newark (15). Some of these proposed sites require further negotiations with landowners and allocation of funding from Central Government.

John Robinson, Chief Executive of  Newark and Sherwood Council said, “Planning to meet the housing needs of our local population is one of our most important responsibilities. Very often it is extremely challenging to find suitable housing sites that balance the needs of current and future populations but it’s important that we don’t duck this challenge. In the same way that we plan to provide homes for our wider community, we also need to plan for our long-established Gypsy and Traveller community, including making them safer at times of flooding. While the plan recognises the continued importance of our current Gypsy and Traveller sites, they are unable alone to accommodate all the additional pitches that are required to provide homes for people to live in. This means that alternative sites have to be found. If we don’t do this we let down our whole community, leaving ourselves less able to resist and deal with unauthorised encampments.”

The public will be able to comment on the Council's proposals from Monday 14 November.

A link to the District Council’s agenda for Cabinet on Tuesday 1 November can be found here: https://democracy.newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=288&MId=722

A link to the District Council’s plan outlining their proposals is available at: https://democracy.newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk/documents/s15074/01.11.22%20-%20Amended%20Allocations%20and%20Development%20Management%20DPD%20-%20Appendix.pdf