Plans linked to the former Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service headquarters at Bestwood are set to return to councillors next week as Gedling Borough Council considers a further variation to an already-approved redevelopment scheme.
The application, due to be discussed by Gedling Borough Council’s Planning Committee on Wednesday 14 January, relates to the former Fire and Rescue HQ site off Bestwood Lodge Drive, which was vacated by the service in 2022 after decades of use as its regional administrative base.
The site, covering around 2.05 hectares, lies within the Green Belt and sits between Bestwood Country Park to the west, large residential properties to the north, and the former stable block and Bestwood Lodge Hotel to the south. It is also surrounded by a number of designated and non-designated heritage assets linked to the historic Bestwood Lodge estate and former medieval hunting park.
In July 2025, planning permission was granted for the demolition of the existing headquarters buildings and their replacement with a private residential therapy and treatment centre, a specialist form of accommodation falling within use class C2. That decision followed a lengthy assessment of Green Belt policy, heritage impact, ecology, highway safety and residential amenity, with officers concluding the redevelopment of the previously developed site would not cause substantial harm to openness or the surrounding historic setting.
Since that approval, the applicant, Delamere Health Prop Co 1 Ltd, has returned to the council seeking permission to vary several conditions attached to the original consent. The latest application does not seek to change the use, size or overall layout of the approved building, but instead focuses on technical amendments linked to emergency access and landscaping.
In particular, the proposals would allow alterations to ground levels beneath three mature trees – identified as T32, T33 and T34 – to enable a shallower gradient for an emergency fire appliance access route. Officers say the existing access drive currently reaches gradients as steep as 1 in 2.5 in places, whereas modern fire safety guidance indicates a gradient closer to 1 in 12 is desirable for emergency vehicles.
The three trees affected are a yew and two common lime trees, all protected by a woodland Tree Preservation Order and categorised as “moderate quality”. Early iterations of the scheme had allowed for their potential removal, but following negotiations with council officers, the applicant has revised the plans to retain them and instead raise ground levels beneath their root protection areas by between 0.78 metres and 2.166 metres.
Gedling’s arboricultural officer and ecology officer both supported this revised approach, noting that the works would involve filling rather than excavation, reducing the risk of root damage. The trees would also be subject to annual professional inspections for five years following construction, with a requirement for replacement planting if any of them fail.
Building control officers were also consulted on whether the additional fire access was genuinely required. After reviewing a revised fire strategy for the development, they concluded that the access route under the trees is necessary to meet current fire safety standards for the proposed therapy centre.
The second element of the application seeks permission to remove a smaller whitebeam tree (T73) and a section of Portugal laurel hedging (H18) to allow the construction of a boundary wall that was already approved as part of the original scheme. Both features are described as low-quality and not visually prominent, with replacement planting already secured through existing landscaping conditions.
The former Fire and Rescue HQ site sits in a sensitive location, with the Grade II* listed Bestwood Lodge Hotel and a cluster of associated listed buildings nearby, along with the historic landscaped parkland designed in the 19th century. Gedling’s conservation officer warned that the loss of mature trees could cause harm to the historic setting, but ultimately deferred to the council’s tree officer, who concluded that the revised proposals strike an acceptable balance between heritage protection and safety requirements.
No objections have been raised by Nottinghamshire County Council’s highways officers, parish councils or neighbouring residents, and the council has confirmed that there have been no significant changes to local or national planning policy since the original consent was granted.
Officers also note that a Section 106 agreement tied to the earlier permission would remain in place, securing a £7,500 travel plan monitoring contribution and a local labour agreement. A wide range of conditions covering biodiversity net gain, drainage, landscaping, ecology protection and construction management would also continue to apply if the variation is approved.
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