22 January 2019
The curse of the Garden Village menace is not confined to the south of England – now Retford (Gamston) Airport has been named as one of two garden village sites by Bassetlaw District Council in Nottinghamshire.
The council has just issued its draft local plan with a consultation period lasting until 10 March. It’s expected to receive final approval in 2021. Download it here.
The council says, “The amount of land available at Gamston Airport allows for the creation of a sustainable and standalone new settlement.
“It is currently a small scale, commercial enterprise which serves the needs of local businesses. Whilst development of the site would result in a loss of airport related employment, the new village would provide opportunities for new employment.”
Gamston Airport outlined in the local plan as a new garden village
The draft plan goes on to write-off the airport: “Gamston Airport is relatively free from any significant constraints and also benefits from being classified as previously developed land (brownfield) due to its current use an airport.
“The present use of the site is considered to be an inefficient use of land which could otherwise be developed for a use which is in much need, and a use which would ultimately provide greater long term social and economic benefits to the local and wider District and economy through the creation of a sustainable settlement.”
The public can tell Bassetlaw District Council what it thinks by these methods:
New hangars built
Retford (Gamston) Airport is home to about 100 based aircraft and recently completed 12,363 square metres (132,000 sq ft) of new hangars.
“We have eleven hangers measuring 33 x 25 metres and a door height of 5.6 metres, we can accommodate a wide variety of aircraft without risk of damage from light aircraft, turboprop, turbine and helicopters,” says the airport website.
There are also several aviation businesses on the field, including:
11 comments
Here we go again ! Brownfield site ? Only because John Prescott MP couldn’t be bothered to read his ministerial paperwork properly. This was when some tame government lickspittal included airfields amongst development sites in some bill when they were not supposed to be there.
Airfields are nearly all greenbelt sites and should never, with due diligence, have become targets for some smart-ass, make-a-quick-buck developer.
Contact Grant Shapps MP on the All Party Parloamentary Group. The governement are supposed to be protecting a strategic network of airfields throughout the country. Gamston must be included in that. Also contact the British Business & General Aviation Association as they will lobby the right authorities on this.
Planning in WLDC cost me a lot of money to get what I applied for!
Good luck and hope you can beat the Bas—–
We’ve not seen any results from Grant Shapps MP or the All Party Parloamentary Group at all. Another lot of ineffectual waffle from them.
What about…
Panshanger? (Grants own Local Airfield)
Wellesbourne?
Redhill?
I rest my case.
From what I’ve seen, when it gets to ‘Planning Consultation’ it’s a done deal.
Perhaps we do have a valid reason for high viz after all ?
Can we also add Halfpenny Green Airfield to the list of aeropark development sites. Application shortly to be made to build 112 homes on part of the site, or is it 1200 homes on the former Airfield site!!!!!!!!?????
Where is the new initiative by government to stop classing active airfields as “brown field sites” and protect them as recreational areas. Builders love them, reduced ground values and tonnes of free hard core, no brainier. Why not find some more disused pits, there are plenty in this area or disused airfields if it comes to a push, plenty of those also.
I am appalled to see that yet again a perfectly good active airfield is under treat from another housing development! Time for the government to finally safeguard all existing active airfields for good. Alternatively, if planners want to build on airfields, they should be compelled to provide an alternative flying location for aviation activities.
I suspect that current owner will be glad of the money from sale of Gamston. He is after all a business man. The council will have no regard to job loss, aircraft relocation or effect on local area and already stretched local schools and infrastructure. The Twyford bridge over A1 is still traffic light controlled single file after a very long repair with no sign of completion.
The traffic lights at the A1 bridge are to be permanent (because the gypsies are constantly nicking the temporary ones) – according to the guy in the van yesterday – due to the bridge being weak and no money to replace it!!!
This is ridiculous. If you want a brownfield site for a garden village go for a pit or high marnham now that’s been flattend. Where is the sense in getting rid of a successful enterprise?
New develop s ta are going to be sustainable how? Where are the jobs going to magically appear from that will do thecsystaining? Yes, I can understand that the new owner probably has no interest in aviation and sees Gamston as a gold mine, but there are plenty of disused and abandoned airfields to go at… they shoukdxall be used first. So come on Grant Shapps, let’s see some action to orotect one of our most unique and cash earning industries… Aerospace. It’s all starts with light aircraft on local airfields..