A Tale of 2 Houses

Posted by alexkemp on 18 November 2016 in English. Last updated on 20 November 2016.

86 + 92 Plains Road, Mapperley NG3, UK

Q: What’s almost as good as a Green Field to a Housing Developer?
A: A single house on a large green site at the edge of town close to shops & schools

Here is the view between two houses positioned 100 yards up the road from these two properties to try to underline why developers want to build there (the view is of Mapperley Golf Course, shot on Wednesday 16 Nov on a classic sunshine-&-showers English day):

Finally, my mapping gets me (almost) to the Ultima Thule (the lands beyond the suburbs of Mapperley & Gedling) (‘Ultima Thule’ was a bookshop in my University town of Newcastle Upon Tyne, and the name was explained to me as meaning “the unknown, unmapped, dangerous realms beyond the civilised world”) (or, Gateshead). Finally, my photos can begin to show not just bricks & tarmac but trees & mud. Excellent.

One of the tales that has repetitively turned up during the mapping has been of naked greed, initiated in the 19th Century whilst satisfying Nottingham folks’ need for housing as the people exploded out from the ¼-mile square (0.032 km²) of the old town into what were then entirely green fields (more surrounding info within Nottingham Suburban Railway, Part 2).

The two houses referred to in this Diary entry are a contrast in outcomes: the first (number 86) is a classic of thwarted desire (with many similarities to the tale in Resistance is Futile 2), whilst the second’s site (number 92) was last Wednesday full of houses halfway to completion.

Both houses are shown on the current Google & Bing satellite imagery (Bing is 10/1/2011-3/26/2012), but in fact each house has been demolished. Local intel is that num86 was bought (24 Oct 2008, £250,000 GBP) & planning permission sought for development. The buildings were demolished & that turned out to be a big mistake as permission was denied (pdf) (2013) — some neighbours, including reportedly Gedling Cricket Club — were against the development. The plot is situated down a long private road, and the traffic could have become intolerable (although reading the PDFs traffic is never mentioned).

Such an outcome would have been hard to take for the owner of num86, but try to imagine the gall of seeing the nearby development of 92 become successful (pdf).

This corner of land bordered by Plains Road & Arnold Road is a recent hive of activity (and very much more is planned - see the Coda at the bottom). The front of plot of 96 Plains Road has been converted into 4 x 3-storey apartment blocks and permission to redevelop (pdf) the rest of the plot, including demolishing the farmhouse, has recently been given, whilst the green field originally at the corner has been developed into a ~~parking lot~~ (sorry, I mean 3 streets of highly desirable apartments + houses suitable for young families).

Reading through the Gedling Planning Department PDFs (as linked above) is mighty puzzling, and I can well believe that developers must find themselves banging their heads against the nearest wall at some of the decisions. Number 92 originally wanted 10 retirement bungalows on the site (2004) but it was turned down. So, they re-applied for 2 x 3-storey apartments giving 20 flats, and were turned down (pdf) (2004). They finally got lucky with 5 detached houses (pdf) (2015). Number 86 applied for a single, 3-storey 8 bedroom house (on a similar-sized plot) was told that it would be “unduly bulky & out of keeping with the character of the area” (2013), then (completely destroying the neat end to this story) in 2016 was accepted for “2 detached dwellings”. A hundred yards or so from these new houses are six or seven recently-built 3-storey apartment blocks. What makes those ‘in character’ is difficult to know. (Just to be clear, I have zero personal connection with any of these developments).

So, we have a picturesque corner of Nottinghamshire hills, with folks desperate for homes with views of those hills. Developers eagerly pocket the cash to satisfy those demands, and the new homeowners find that all they can now see is their neighbours’ brick walls. An old story, of course.

Coda 1: Planning & Development (CIL EX12)

Students of Local Government, residents that live north of Papplewick Lane & anyone mapping in the vicinity of Arnold Lane (that’s just me, then) will be transfixed by 6 March 2015 CIL EX12 (pdf). There are lots & lots of interesting things in it if you live local (the Tesco that I use was going to double it’s floorspace, but has changed it’s mind) but for everyone section 3 (“Residential Viability Appraisal”) should be an eye-opener, as it shows the spreadsheet that Local Government uses when appraising development costs, including the balance of Market & Affordable Housing, and actual fee percentages used (with VIABILITY MARGIN as the bottom line). Absolutely fascinating. And particularly when you realise that it is talking about a plan to develop the (currently green hills on the) other side of Arnold Lane.