APG members will recall that back in 2009 following advice from council members and a senior planning officer that the only way to protect properties from demolition as part of building developments in the area adjacent to the current Conservation Area was to apply to extend it to include Kings Croft, Park Lane and the section of Duffield Road (including Gisborne Crescent) which connects the two roads.

We were told the council had neither the financial nor human resource to take on the assessment and subsequent application which would need to be assigned to an external consultant, but they had no budget available to meet the cost and unlikely to have in the foreseeable future.

APG then applied to the Neighbourhood Board and gained an award to pay a consultant to undertake an assessment and prepare a designation report. This was produced and submitted to the Council in 2010 using much of the valuable research into Allestree’s social history and development, undertaken by one of our committee members. This work by our members helped keep the cost of the assessment report to an absolute minimum.

We contacted the senior officer whose section deals with conservation matters two weeks ago to find why the application had made no progress and were advised that there was currently only a part-time person dealing with conservation matters and until recruitment of a full time officer to replace one who had left in March had been achieved there was no prospect of our assessment progressing.

We have been consistently told that whilst the assessment provides a good case for Allestree there are other priorities in the City but as we had undertaken much good work the assessment would be looked at again possibly later in the year.

We will keep you informed of any developments but this has been a very frustrating and protracted process as a result of delays and resource issues within the Council.

June 2011