Green space should stay, say councillors

A play area off Lincoln Road, Newark, owned by the Gilstrap Trust should remain open space say town councillors.

It has been suggested, to raise money for the trust, that two-thirds of it be used for 24 homes, while the rest remains a park.

The trust, made up of members of Newark and Sherwood District Council’s general purposes committee, made the suggestion to the council.

The council is seeking comments on the idea to see if the site should be included in its local development framework, which guides where building should be allowed.

Mrs Gill Dawn told the town council planning committee the area was one of only two pieces of open space left on the Bridge Ward.

She said the other area was the Lincoln Road playing field and part of that had been allocated for potential building.

“There is very little play facility space for children. We must preserve the area for future generations,” she said.

“As local member I am going to object to the use of any part of the site being built on, but I do realise that the Gilstrap Trust needs money.”

Mr Laurence Goff said young people needed a place to play and the area should remain as open space.

Mr Tony Roberts said he would be happier if the trust had suggested that two-thirds of the site be kept as open space and the remaining area be used for 12 homes.

Mr David Lloyd was concerned about access, and whether new homes would fit in with the character of the area.

Mr Kevin Clayton said the committee needed to consider the proposal without regard to the problems of the trust.

“It is irrelevant who it belongs to. I don’t believe that should be taken into the equation,” he said.

“We should just be considering whether we want to allocate housing on a green space.”

Mr Bob Crowe said he would like to see a small part of the area used for homes and the rest maintained as a good play area.

Rachel Dawn said the Bridge Ward was one of the most populated areas of the town and building homes and taking away green space would add to problems.

l The trust owns the Gilstrap Centre, Castlegate, which Nottinghamshire County Council wants to buy for use as a register office. A working party has been set up to look at how the centre could be used before a decision is reached on whether a sale should go ahead.