Approval for the layout of the 750-home development in Top Wighay

Plans to develop a 750-home estate near Nottinghamshire County Council's new headquarters in the Gedling area have been approved.

The council's planning committee met on Thursday (September 26) to discuss the development near Top Wighay.

The project is being built by the County Council in Gedling, meaning council approval was required.

In March 2022, the County Council's initial application was for 805 homes, land for employment, a local center and a primary school.

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The application approved yesterday concerns the layout, scale, landscaping and appearance of 763 homes on the site.

The new County Council headquarters, Oak House, is currently still being developed as a separate project close to the proposed housing development.

The estate will be split into several neighbourhoods, with smaller houses in the north, stone houses around the center and larger detached semi-rural houses in the south to reflect Linby.

According to the planning documents, there will be a clear hierarchy of roads around the site, with a main road from the southern approach at Wighay Road and links through the site to Annesley Road to the west.

Land has also been retained for a possible future NET tram extension.

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The main central play and park area is located in the center of the site, including a multi-use play area, skate park, 9v9 sports courts and table tennis tables.

Councilor Sam Smith (Con) praised the skatepark feature, saying: There are teenagers across the borough clamoring for skateparks, I'm absolutely delighted that this planning application is getting another one.

Councilor Martin Smith (Con) raised concerns about the 9v9 football pitches included in the development.

He said: 9v9 football pitches are mainly used by children in the under 9 and under 10 categories. I don't understand why we have been so restrictive about the young people being allowed to use these pitches for league matches.

Please go away and try to squeeze an 11v11 square, they can be marked with a 9v9 square in the middle of it.

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Children under 9 and under 10 will inevitably grow, they will get older, those children will then look for another field to play in the same location.

Mark Avery, director of Place, said there had been previous issues in accommodating the original pitches, and these had previously been approved by the committee, but noted Cllr Smith's comments.

Sport England objected to the lack of changing rooms for the football pitches, but the space to the south of the pitches has been identified as a possible solution.

Cllr Martin Smith (Con) expressed his condolences for the residents of Linby and Pappelwick who would inevitably see an increased flow of traffic into the villages.

He said: The peak times in both villages are terrible and there is nothing I see in this plan that mitigates this; all I can see is the situation getting worse.

The development includes two play areas and pedestrian and cycle routes created by a green spine through the center of the site.

For affordable rental properties, there will be four single beds, 38 double beds, 29 triple beds, eight four-person beds and two five-person beds. There will be various wheelchair-adapted bungalows.

The Linden Homes phase consists of 288 homes, accessible from the road past the new County Council office development.

The Bovis Homes phase includes 158 homes with play space and Countryside Partnerships, spread over two phases, 317 homes.

A County Council-completed primary school will be built at a later stage.

Properties across the site range from one-bed houses to five-bed houses.

The committee voted in favor of approving the development. Further applications will be required at a later stage to determine the individual details of each stage of the development.