Affordable housing proposal is welcomed

Residents of Gringley-on-the-Hill were keeping their fingers crossed that the planning application for the site of a former youth custody centre would be approved.

Bassetlaw Council’s planning committee approved the redevelopment plan for the six-acre site on Westwells Lane which will contain about 72 new homes, 20 per cent of which will be affordable for local people, and a 4,000 sq ft community centre.

The community building will be constructed by the developer who eventually buys the land from the Government and hands it over to the parish council when complete.

Full support for the application came from Gringley Parish Council, which says the new community centre is needed as the only current similar facility, the village hall in High Street, is now inadequate for this purpose.

The plan will involve demolition of the old detention centre, considered too small and uneconomic for use by the National Offender Management Service.

In addition to proposing the community centre and affordable homes the planning application contains a 30,000 integrated transport contribution.

John Hargreaves, chairman of Gringley Parish Council, said: “The village is in urgent need of a new community centre and we’re delighted this is now included in the proposals.

“The envisaged centre will provide a real focal point for the community and take the quality of life here to a new level. The parish council also fully supports the proposal for affordable housing, as this will bring significant benefits to the area and its people.

“Adding new vibrancy to a part of the village which has lain largely dormant for a long time, the homes should enable many of the area’s young people, who currently often have to move away to get a foot on the housing ladder, to do so while staying close to friends and family.

“The local primary school will also benefit significantly from the additional children the proposed housing will bring to the village.”