Three Newark town councillors – Paul Taylor, Pamela Ball and Glenis Rix - resign from the Lilley and Stone School board of trustees over Bildurn development

Three councillors have resigned as Lilley and Stone trustees after controversial plans for the site were submitted.

Following the submission of plans for the former Lilley and Stone school site on London Road, Newark, Paul Taylor, Pamela Ball and Glenis Rix have decided to step down from the board.

The trio highlight issues with the proposed development, submitted by Bildurn, to build up to 130 homes on the site, including loss of green space, worsening congestion in the town centre and poor infrastructure to support the influx of new houses.

The loss of the Lilley and Stone school building as a community asset was also raised, with plans to convert the grade-two listed building into flats.

District and town councillor for the Devon Ward Paul Taylor said: “I became a Newark Town Council representative on the board of trustees after the sale of trust assets had been completed.

“I was keen to be on the board to ensure the voices of young people in Newark and Balderton were listened to. My voice on the board is clearly not being listened to and therefore I have little choice but to resign.

“The company, which bought the site for what appears to me to be a rather low price, has submitted a planning application.

“I can no longer remain a trustee as being a Newark town councillor and a Newark and Sherwood district councillor who is strongly opposed to the planning application and who will campaign for it to be turned down, is not compatible with being a trustee.

“I am not convinced that the beneficiaries of the Lilley and Stone Trust are being well served by the sale and this application. The young people of Newark and Balderton deserve much better than this development.”

Also resigning is town councillor Pamela Ball, who also said she did not agree with the decision to sell to a developer who is proposing to build 130 homes and a carpark.

She said: “If the development goes ahead it will be to the detriment of the people living in and around Newark. It will be yet again the loss of another green space, mature trees and wildlife habitat.

“St Georges Trust completed a bat survey in the grounds, which clearly shows the existence of bats in the grounds. As we know , bats are a protected species.”

She added: “Newark does not have the infrastructure to support any more housing. In addition, there would be an increase in traffic, adding to an already heavily congested area and increasing pollution levels.

“When I say we do not need any more development , I also include in that the proposed development of Lowfield Lane, to which all the above applies, along with the increased risk of further flooding.”

Glenis Rix, an Independent town councillor for the Devon Ward, added: “Like the other two councillors, I found that I had a conflict of interest relating to the Lilley and Stone development, about which I have strong reservations.

“My main concern is the increase in the level of traffic that will result from an entrance to the site via Harewood Avenue, which is in the ward that I represent,” she said.

“I am also concerned that building over 100 houses on the site might significantly worsen the traffic problems that are already experienced at the Beaumond Cross traffic lights during peak hours.

“However, I stress that I have not yet seen the revised plans, which I understand have been amended to take concerns expressed by the community into consideration.

“I hope that the planning authority will try to reach a compromise with the developer. The last thing anyone wants is for the site to fall into a further state of dereliction.”

Newark and Sherwood District Council will have the final say on whether or not the plans are given the go ahead, when they are due to be discussed later this year.

When the Advertiser approached The Lilley and Stone board of trustees for comment, they provided a quote from a spokesman for Bildurn, which read: “Whilst the trustees retain a financial interest in the site’s redevelopment, they are not actively involved in the planning process or the ongoing maintenance of the site”.