Woodborough set to get up to £500,000 for fixing roads

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🕳️ Woodborough residents “delighted” as up to £500,000 awarded to repair damaged roads

Residents in Woodborough say they are “delighted” as up to £500,000 will be spent fixing and tidying its damaged roads

Back in March, the Reform-led Nottinghamshire County Council announced it would be embarking on a “record-breaking” £122.5 million project to fix the county’s highway network in the 2026/27 financial year.

The authority has come up with a six-point plan to tackle Nottinghamshire’s strained and crumbling roads, focusing on prevention, permanent first-time repairs, stronger materials, better value from crews and equipment, extra winter crews and lobbying for more long-term Government funding.

One scheme in the project – that is receiving a significant pot of money – is in the small Gedling village of Woodborough, near Calverton.

Council plans state that between £400,000 and £500,000 is being put aside for resurfacing and structural patching works on the village’s busiest roads.

Works will take place from the Bank Hill junction to the 50 miles-per-hour limit on Foxwood Lane towards Calverton. But documents do not currently specify the nature of the works set to be carried out on that route.

The highways team will also be resurfacing from Foxwood Lane up to near 42 Bank Hill and completing structural patching on Main Street from the Bank Hill junction to White’s Croft.

Juliette Smith, 58, has lived in the village for around two years. She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “I’m happy for it to happen, this place can flood, so it will have some sort of bearing.

“The roads haven’t been great, they’re getting worse and [the damage] is even creeping up to my driveway.

“Bank Hill is quite bad. It’s downhill, and people will go down there at speed, and there are lots of twists and turns in country lanes.

“If there are potholes, it’s dangerous. It’s the main road in and out of Woodborough, that’s where people cut through.”

Ms Smith said her main concern is that the authority “do it right first time”.

Eighty-four-year-old Roger Holehouse, who has lived in the village for 59 years, says the county’s roads have been “atrocious” and Foxwood Lane is the worst in the village.

He said: “My house is rated a H in council tax banding, so my rates are over £5,000 a year – I don’t get my money’s worth. I want my £5,000 on the roads or on the bins.

“Foxwood Lane and Bank Hill is the main route with traffic from Calverton, they don’t come through the village.

“In recent times, they’ve built a lot of houses in Lambley and Burton Joyce. There’s a lot more traffic in from new houses, so it wears the roads out. Bank Hill takes all that traffic from the new houses being built in Calverton.”

Simon and Julie Pomeroy, who moved to the area in late 2024, said they were “delighted” at the news of the upcoming roadworks.

They said: “The two main roads that need it are the ones they’re doing. Foxwood Lane desperately needs to be done.

“It’s aggravated a bit by the flooding we get – it’s been much better this year, but the damage has already been done. The pavements desperately need doing as well.”

A September 2025 survey found about 38 per cent of Nottinghamshire’s roads are in ‘poor condition’, along with more than half of all road markings being in ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’ condition. The multi-million-pound investment will resurface and patch about 16 per cent of roads.

About 45 per cent of the £122.5 million money pot has come from the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA), with the other 55 per cent provided by the council, through money raised in council tax and secured grants from other funders.

Other roads in the borough are set for hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of works, which are listed below:

• Between £300,000 to £400,000 will be spent on Arnold Lane on resurfacing works from the mini roundabout at the Main Road junction to Besecar Avenue.
• For Howbeck Road in Arnold, between £250,000 to £300,000 will go towards resurfacing from the surface joint near Coppice Road to Hamilton Close.
• In Carlton, £300,000 to £400,000 will be spent on resurfacing Prospect Road, stretching from Valley Road to Standhill Road.

By: Lauren Monaghan (Local Democracy Reporter)

🩺 The small Gedling borough village ‘desperate’ for a doctors’ surgery and more shops

Nottinghamshire residents say they are ‘desperate’ for more community facilities in their village after approval was given to expand it by nearly 100 homes.

Bestwood Village has been expanding in recent years, and 101 homes have already been built in the area following the site’s allocation for housing under a council plan.

Now, a further 93 properties are set to be built on land east of Westhouse Farm in Moor Road by developer Langridge Homes after Gedling Borough Council approved the plans in March.

Hawthorne Primary and Nursery School sit to the west of the site, where access to the future development would come from Moor Road and pass through the existing new-build estate by the school.

Concerns have been raised that, while the village itself is continuing to grow, community infrastructure, such as a pub, doctors’ surgery, dentist and shops are lacking. It currently has only one convenience store.

Mick David, 73, and Gaynor David, 70, who live nearby to where the new homes will be built, moved there about three and a half years ago after living in France for 20 years.

Speaking to the local democracy reporting service (LDRS), Mr David said the village was ‘desperate’ for infrastructure.

He said: “It’s criminal. You’ve got to wait for weeks to see a GP or a nurse.”

Speaking about the increasing number of homes being built in the village, he said: “Normally in those expanses of homes you have to have a shop, a doctors’ surgery, a pharmacy, a health centre.

“Yes, they’ve built a new school, but with the new houses that won’t be big enough.”

Mrs David added: “We lived in very rural France. Our village had around 2,500 people and we had four bakeries, three butchers, a doctors’ surgery that would stay open until 7pm on a Saturday night.”

Others are concerned for the area’s growing traffic, where Moor Road acts as the village’s main access point.

A 79-year-old woman, who has lived in Bestwood Village for 34 years, said she was worried she will get “cut off again” if any emergencies happen in the future, such as existing flooding problems.

She said: “We’ve only got one road in and out of the village. If something happens one side, everything closes.

“There’s the school now, and now we’re going to have nearly 100 more homes and that’s probably 200 more cars so there could be more accidents – we’re going to get cut off again.

“We’re elderly. If you need a ambulance and it floods again [near Moor Bridge Tram Stop] nobody could get in and out.”

The woman, who said large vehicles already used Moor Road, often travelling down from the Papplewick direction, added: “How can you have a town with one road?”

John Taylor, 79, who has lived in the village for 30 years, said he was “ready to leave” with the changes happening around him.

He said: “I used to have my grandson come, he used to watch the birds settle on the field [behind my garden] – we get none of that now.”

Mr Taylor can now see existing new-build homes from his garden, adding: “We’ve lost a lot – I’m ready to leave. I’ve lost all that view. My parents lived here and I bought the house and I thought it was a smashing village.

“I think it’s a shame because it’s been a village for years and years… first thing in the morning it takes me five minutes to get out of my road.”

One resident, who asked not to be named and has lived nearby for 25 years, gave the LDRS a different view, saying they “welcomed change”.

They said: “I think the village needs to grow. I think people are stuck in their ways – but the amenities need to catch up.

“We’re around five miles out of Nottingham – so you want to live in an old coal mining community still?

“The new houses are gorgeous and the neighbours moving in there are professional. I think it brings in different people, different perspectives, different cultures and it makes it more vibrant.”

Langridge Homes has pledged a significant amount of money for local community improvements in what’s known as a Section 106 contribution.

In total, £777,850 will go toward education provision, £3,278 to be used by Nottinghamshire County Council as a contribution towards enhancing library provision at Arnold Library, a primary healthcare contribution of £50,394.37 and £41,400 for bus stop improvements.

There will also be an open space contribution – in the absence of a play area – of £261,607.20, and a maintenance contribution of £119,320.

In addition, a contribution of £31,400 is sought to maintain an identified local play area.

Of the properties, 28 are planned to be made affordable, including 20 for social rent and eight shared ownership properties.

David Fletcher, managing director at Langridge Homes, said: “We’re happy the planning has finally gone through.

“As a regional developer we’d like to see the Section 106 money go to the local area, but that’s out of our remit.”

By: Lauren Monaghan (Local Democracy Reporter)

⚠️ Heads up...

🌤️ Weather: After a chilly start, a fine but windy day is expected, and widely sunny. Although some high cloud will likely build and thicken during the evening. Warm, especially out the wind. Tonight, any high cloud will break, giving some clearer spells and allowing for temperatures to fall. With winds easing, the odd patch of frost and fog is possible.

It will be another fine and dry day, with only limited amounts of high cloud. With lighter winds and widely sunny skies, it will be feeling warmer than on Tuesday for most.

👮‍♂️ Neighbourhood policing inspector for Gedling borough updates on crime fighting progress made in March

Gedling neighbourhood policing team’s Inspector Steve King has provided an update on how they have progressed on tackling crime across the borough during February...

Following our April review, and drawing on community input, crime and incident data, partner feedback, and PCC and Neighbourhood Alert surveys - our local priorities will remain unchanged for this quarter. These will be acquisitive crime (burglary, robbery, shoplifting and theft), anti-social behaviour (including behavioural, motorcycle, speeding, begging) and drugs (possession, supply and cannabis cultivation). We’ve made solid progress across all three areas, but sustained focus is key to long term improvements. Here's my update on progress last month.

ACQUISITIVE CRIME: Our operations; Op Descent 2 and Op Shifted, continue to deliver positive results in tackling shop theft. Several recent arrests have been made, and we’re making proactive use of Criminal Behaviour Orders for the most persistent offenders.

We’ve also launched Business Action Groups, bringing together local businesses and partners to improve relationships, share intelligence, and work collectively to reduce offending.

Although theft offences rose slightly last month, this aligns with seasonal trends. Overall, theft remains lower than this time last year, but because Gedling typically experiences low volumes, even small fluctuations can appear more significant in the data.

ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR: ASB calls increased modestly through March - something we anticipated with lighter evenings and better weather. Our teams have been making effective use of dispersal powers where appropriate, allowing officers to remove individuals from an area to prevent disorder before it escalates.

We’ve also issued a number of Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABCs) to young people involved in low level ASB. These agreements set clear boundaries and include an escalation process if they are breached.

Additionally, we continue to refer young offenders into the Immediate Justice programme, which requires them to carry out reparative community work such as litter picking. This scheme is proving highly effective in reducing repeat offending - and I’m pleased to say Gedling is currently the highest referring area in Nottinghamshire.

With Easter holidays and brighter evenings upon us, it’s a good time for parents and carers to check in on where their children are and what they’re doing when out and about. No one wants a visit from officers returning a child home due to unacceptable behaviour.

DRUGS: Drug enforcement remains a priority, and our teams across Gedling borough continue to achieve strong results. Our message to anyone involved in drug dealing is clear: we are actively targeting you, and if this activity continues, it’s only a matter of time before we’re knocking - possibly forcefully - on your door.