Who benefits from this development?

It is argued that there is a pressing need for housing in Nottingham.  Whether or not there is such a need in this location is highly questionable, but leaving that matter aside for the present, let’s stop and think for a minute as to who will gain from this housing development if allowed.

Will it be those who pay over the odds for new homes blighted by incessant road noise, air pollution and congestion and whose children will have to cross the A610 to get to school every day?

I don’t think so.
 
Will it be the community who will lose a valuable green open space for ever?
Definitely not!

Will it be the residents of Hempshill Hall who have invested hundreds of thousands of pounds to restore and preserve a valuable heritage asset for posterity?

Er, not really.

No, none of these.  Instead it will be some greedy speculator who contributes nothing to the community and who boasts on their website that they make their living out of speculating on land values.  And how are those land values increased?  Certainly not by any work they do to improve it, but simply by taking ordinary green fields bought at farmland prices and then persuading any planning authority gullible enough to grant them planning permission to turn into expensive building land.  So, they make their living by exploiting a valuable community asset and selling that amenity which is ours, not theirs, to a housing developer.  And they don’t even have much of a track record in housing developments, mostly just anonymous industrial units, so they have absolutely no interest in what the development will look like, just so long as they make a killing.  Check out their website to see some examples of what they have done so far.

The architect responsible for overseeing the restoration of the Hall has written to Broxtowe Council expressing his objections to the proposed development (click on the link to see it in full) in which he makes the following case against this cynical exploitation of the fields.  For many years as Hempshill Hall slid into a state of dereliction and decay it was made clear to prospective purchasers that it would not be permissible to use the “value” of the surrounding farmland to fund restoration of the Hall.  After all, what would be the point of restoring the historic building if it was only achieved at the expense of blighting the surroundings?  So it was only when the current owners, motivated by a genuine interest in the heritage of this listed building rather than making a quick buck came along, that the Hall has been restored to its former glory for all of us to enjoy.

Now some opportunist land speculator who has no motive other than making a quick buck at our expense comes along and thinks we should just throw away all the planning policies and considerations of the local area, and hand over this last patch of green in the area, just so he can get rich quick!

Even though the date for formal letters of objection has passed, we need to keep up the pressure.  We can all do our part by attending planning meetings and continuing to make our voices heard.  Write to your councillors, write to the papers…

Don’t let the speculators get away with it.