Nottinghamshire County Council to explore partnership bid with Nottingham Trent University for purchase of Laxton Estate as they submit formal expression of interest to Crown Estate
A council is to submit a formal expression of interest in the Laxton Estate with a university, it has been agreed.
Nottinghamshire County Council will explore a partnership bid with Nottingham Trent University for the potential purchase of the estate, with the view to developing it as an educational facility.
The Advertiser exclusively revealed in October the council’s interest in the Laxton Estate.
The site, put up for sale by the Crown Estate, is the last working feudal village in Europe.
It has operated an open field system and Court Leet, a farming practice common-place throughout the country since medieval times, but it is now the last existing working example.
The policy committee carried the motion to submit a formal expression of interest in the Laxton Estate.
Labour members raised concerns about the benefits it may provide to the council and suggested that a charitable body may be better placed to submit a bid in partneship with Nottingham Trent.
Labour councillor Mrs Muriel Weisz said: “I don’t understand why Nottingham Trent University is not looking for charity partnerships in this.
“I imagine there would be a range of charities who would be interested in this partnership.”
Mr Alan Rhodes said: “I’m not at all sure why we should even be considering involvement ourselves in this.
“It’s important we are doing the right thing for them (Laxton residents) and the rest of the people in Nottingham.”
The expression of interest is non-binding and needs to be submitted by the end of December, with a view to exploring developed, competitive bids in the new year.
County council leader and chairman of the policy committee Kay Cutts put the motion to the committee.
She said: “We have a responsibility to do everything we can to ensure its status is protected, while its potential is fully developed. Following discussions with Nottingham Trent University and other stakeholders — including tenants of the estate — we believe there is an exciting opportunity to achieve both.
“This is a non-binding expression of interest at this stage, and the ultimate cost will be a significant factor in determining if our ambitions can be realised.
“However, we hope that a publicly-funded proposition, which respects and retains Laxton’s heritage and the farmers who work the three-field system while developing it as an educational asset, will be looked upon favourably by the Crown Estate.”
The vice-chancellor of Nottingham Trent University, Professor Edward Peck, said: “While discussions are in the early stages, we are keen to work with Nottinghamshire County Council to help find a viable future for the estate and to help preserve and protect the last remaining medieval farming system of its kind.”
