Save Nottingham Airfield Group (SNAG) has challenged Rushcliffe Borough Council over what it describes as a “fundamental contradiction” in the Council’s approach to its Gamston/Tollerton Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), where RBC wants to build 4,000 homes on unsuitable land.
Papers published ahead of the RBC Cabinet meeting, due to take place on 23 June, confirm that a third version of the SPD has now been prepared, with amendments made in direct response to arguments raised in SNAG’s ongoing Judicial Review claim.
The Cabinet report states that the Council “does not consider the grounds of SNAG’s claim to have merit or be arguable.” However, in the same document, RBC confirms that revisions have been introduced specifically to address “points raised in the claim”.
Sarah Deacon, Chair of SNAG, said:
“The Council cannot have it both ways. If our case has no merit, there is no rational basis for rushing through a rewrite of the SPD at the last possible moment before a statutory deadline.”
“If, however, they are amending the document in response to our legal arguments (as they have clearly stated), this is a clear acknowledgement that our arguments carry weight. The Cabinet report makes both claims in the same breath.”
Rushcliffe is seeking to secure adoption of the revised SPD before 30 June 2026, when new regulations under the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 will prevent local planning authorities from adopting or amending SPDs. SNAG argues that this deadline is behind the rushed reconsideration of the document.
SNAG’s Judicial Review claim (AC-2026-LON-002059), filed on 6 May 2026, challenges the Council’s original adoption of the SPD on three grounds:
– that the document should have been treated as a Development Plan Document requiring full public examination
– that viability obligations were not properly addressed
– that the Strategic Environmental Assessment screening opinion was unlawful
SNAG is represented by solicitors Leigh Day and barrister Alex Shattock of Landmark Chambers.
The Group’s legal team is currently reviewing the Cabinet report and the revised SPD, and considering next steps.
“We remain committed”
Ms Deacon added: “We will not be deterred by RBC’s procedural manoeuvres. Our concern has always been the lawfulness of the process by which this document was produced. A rushed third adoption does not resolve that question. We remain fully committed to pursuing this matter through the courts, because Rushcliffe deserves better.”