People in Bingham say a country park created as part of a 1,000-home development there is a "disgrace" plagued by sludgy paths and litter. The first homes planned as part of the Romans' Quarter development were approved in 2018, with lead developer Barratt Homes promising that a new country park would be built alongside it.
Barratt Homes, working on the housing development with David Wilson Homes, promised the new country park would feature a large lake with an island in the middle of it. After having now been open to the public since the end of 2020, the lake is allegedly half the size of what was originally planned and some say it more closely resembles a puddle.
Residents say many are under the impression that work on the country park has not yet finished because of its "bombsite" appearance. Ted Birch, 35, who moved to Bingham in 2021, said: "People in Bingham were so welcoming of this housing because we understand that there is a need there.
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"But this country park has been mis-sold. You can't walk near the lake itself because there isn't a path around the edge of it and it looks more like a puddle anyway, because it's half the size of what it should have been.
"We've really been pressing the borough council and developers to improve what they have done. It was only through us really pushing for them that we managed to get more litter bins, because there was only one when this first opened at the entrance and so there was litter everywhere. It still just looks like a bombsite."
Long-term residents of Bingham say other issues with the park, known as Archer's Lake, include the paths that have been created further away from the water. Julie Thorpe, who has lived in Bingham with her husband Chris for 25 years, said: "People here were promised a country park and it was supposed to be a nice area where you could have a day out and spend some quality time with your children and grandchildren.
"This wasn't just about a lake, this was supposed to be an entire country park and if this is a country park, then it's disgraceful." Ted Birch, who also serves as a town councillor in Bingham, said he was concerned about the access for disabled residents given the state of the paths. Mr Birch has even ridden around the park in a wheelchair himself to prove how difficult it would be for some disabled residents to use it.
A spokesperson for Barratt and David Wilson Homes North Midlands said: "We are sorry for the current condition of the path around the lake and work to improve it had already been scheduled to take place when the weather is better, and all works have been implemented in line with the designs and specification previously approved by Rushcliffe Borough Council. Whilst the remedial works to the footpath are undertaken, we will endeavour to keep disruption of the area to a minimum."
Rushcliffe Borough Council confirmed it had received a report from developers on "further works to be completed to paths and landscaping." The authority said this further work was being communicated in the local area.
Other problems raised with the park include the fact that the benches installed there are so far away from the lake that when sat down, some say you can't see it. Some of the benches installed are even facing away from the lake, so that the view ends up being the ongoing housing development. But in terms of the lake itself, FOI requests to Rushcliffe Borough Council submitted by Ted Birch reveal why it looks so different to what was promised in CGI images released before work started.
The information from the council says there was an "oversight" which meant that there was an "excess of soil" needed for the creation of the originally planned lake. The council also said there was an issue with keeping "such a large body of water oxygenated and clean."
Plans were therefore changed but in another FOI request, the council says that it only sent letters about the changed plans to 94 households. Ted Birch added: "The consultation on the changes was a sham.
"We have tried to work with the council and developers for the last 18 months but you never seem to get anywhere, the residents of Bingham have been treated with indifference and disdain." On the issue of the consultation, a Rushcliffe Borough spokesperson said: "A consultation of the re-designed lake in 2018 was carried out and the views of local residents and the town council were taken into account when the proposals were determined."
A spokesperson for Barratt and David Wilson Homes North Midlands added: "Archer's Lake in Bingham was built in 2018 and acts as flood alleviation for the adjacent Car Dyke. We maintain a good relationship with Rushcliffe Borough Council and Bingham Town Council and will continue to work closely with them as the works progress."
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