In the same way as a paper suddenly appeared informing residents of the sale of land off Hands Road another paper has appeared entitled Hands Road Development Brief.

It was due to be discussed on Monday, March 31, by the planning board in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Ripley.

The paper is on the website under the Planning Board meeting for March 31, section 5 being item 1. I presume paper copies are available on request by contacting Sue Hawkins on 01773 841635.

The paper effectively starts the consultation on the site itself, prior to marketing the site.

Comments are invited over the six-week period.

You should write in with any changes which you would like to see to the
development brief.

If accepted the changes would then become the development brief. At this point in time the council has not proposed a public meeting of any sort to raise the issue directly with the residents of Heanor and this is something I will be asking for.

The reassurances given to residents about not including the steep wooded area have also disappeared.

I am still amazed by the way in which the council seeks to consult local residents on this issue and that at no time has it made any attempt to notify residents directly about what is happening in their local area.

If you have used this land for any time in the last 20 years for recreational activity, which includes walking and dog walking, playing games or even just sitting on, it would like to hear from you giving the year period that you have used it, eg 1999 to 2004 as it would appear that converting this into a village green is a real possibility.

The truth behind the parks and open spaces in the town is that historically we had the right level for the size of the population in Heanor but the Conservative transfer of some of these to Amber Valley Housing Association (as it was called then) and as time progresses these are being used mainly for housing.

This means that we are now short of parks and green spaces, even by Amber Valley's calculation - although they now think that Shipley Country park is within easy reach for residents as far away as Langley Mill. Once these pieces of land are developed there is even greater need for parks and green spaces and once this land is gone the opportunity is lost forever.

Let us have a decent town centre park in Heanor and not more housing.
Cllr K Armstrong

Ella Bank Road
Marlpool