Plans for 30 Bassetlaw homes refused after application receives backlash from community

Plans for 30 homes in a Bassetlaw village have been turned down after receiving strong criticism from the local community.
A planning application for 30 homes on a brownfield site off Bolham Lane, in Bolham, have been turned down.A planning application for 30 homes on a brownfield site off Bolham Lane, in Bolham, have been turned down.
A planning application for 30 homes on a brownfield site off Bolham Lane, in Bolham, have been turned down.

A landowner applied to Bassetlaw District Council to build 30 homes in the Retford suburb of Bolham.

But fears for children’s safety were raised as the development was planned between two schools – Carr Hill Primary and Nursery School and the Elizabethan Academy.

Dozens of residents objected to the application, with some claiming that the plans were “wholly unacceptable” on a “dangerous highway”.

Read More
Bassetlaw man to pay more than £850 after pleading guilty to fly-tipping

The brownfield site at the Old Coal Yard in Bolham Lane is off a single track road which does not have a footpath.

Despite the applicant’s promises to provide “several passing bays” along the lane and a footpath on one side, Bassetlaw District Council decided to refuse the application, and said that “the improvements proposed are not considered sufficient to provide a safe and suitable means of access”.

The planning officers added: “Due the substandard nature of Bolham Lane, an increase in vehicle movements is likely to lead to an increase in conflict with pedestrians and cyclists to the detriment of highway safety.”

The site was previously owned by a family who operated a coal yard and sales, a haulage business and part scrapyard from the site.

A spokesperson for the applicant, Adam Potts, previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the improvement measures for the new homes would help to improve safety along Bolham Lane.

But a total of 85 residents objected to the plans, with one saying: “I feel the new proposed construction is ill-thought out and badly planned. The new houses will bring chaos to the existing road system attracting both more noise and pollution.”

Another added: “My parents live on Bolham Lane and the road is just getting worse.

“What once used to be a quite lovely street, over the last five years it’s become noisy, unsafe with the amount of large lorries and it’s affected peoples mental health and the local wildlife.”

Councillor Gary Clarkson (Ind) added whilst the application was positive in that it provided a new use for the land, he had “serious concerns” about the plans.

He said: “The road currently has no footpath and appears to be too narrow for one to be built.

“This already gives grave cause for concern that there is a serious safety risk to pedestrians.

“The proposed development does not seek to mitigate this existing issue, but adds to it by bringing even more road traffic to an existing unsafe situation.”

Related topics: