Economic growth prompts council planning expansion

A district council is looking to reap the benefits of economic growth filtering north by setting ambitious targets for investment, housing and jobs.

Bassetlaw District Council in north Nottinghamshire is balancing demands for growth on its mix of urban and rural environments, interim development team manager Paul Cooper told Planning.

“The economy is picking up – it's taken its time to work its way north but we are definitely seeing signs of improvement.

“We are trying to deliver an ambitious agenda on investment, housing and jobs and have a lot of schemes coming forward to regenerate some of the old coal sites.

“However, though we have lots of sites coming forward, we can't demonstrate a five-year housing supply and therefore have to balance expectations very carefully.”

One of its projects, a proposed £7.5 million link road to the M1 motorway, will free up development land and could create more than 1,000 new jobs. Another is for an 80-hectare business park proposal (pictured).

The council is seeking to recruit three planning officers.

“We are getting busier and busier in the planning department and the new postholders will process a range of planning applications and provide support to other team members on all planning aspects", Cooper said. 

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