Nottingham City Council to sell off more than 60 acres of empty farmland

An electricity pylon stands in the middle of empty farmland
-Credit:Google


More than 60 acres of vacant farmland in Long Eaton owned by Nottingham City Council will be auctioned off. Trent Farm, based on Trent Lane in view of the former Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station, has been used in recent years for gravel extraction.

Landowners Nottingham City Council had leased some of the farm to Cemex UK Operations for the gravel extraction but with that process now complete, the Labour-run authority has agreed to dispose of 61 acres of vacant land. The council says: "Nottingham City Council could continue to hold the property but there is no longer income to be derived from the remaining two sites.

"Moreover, they represent a serious ongoing management risk to the property management team as they are now simply extensive areas of open water. It is not possible to prevent people entering the site and the property management team and our insurance team have recommended the disposal of the liability now that the Cemex lease has expired and we are responsible for the property."

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The lease to Cemex expired at the end of 2023 and in a report published on January 8, the city council confirms it will therefore sell plots five and six of Trent Farm. The two plots are the last parts of Trent Farm owned by the city council, with 44 acres of the site having been auctioned off on December 12 by the Nottingham-based Auction Estates company.

That auction saw 44 acres of the site being sold for £300,000, despite a guide price of £150,000. Once a quarry, operators decided to turn Trent Farm into two main lakes and two smaller lakes, with narrow strips of land in between them.

Recent years have seen the city council selling off everything from pubs to supermarkets as it tries to pay back £65 million of government financial help. Others assets sold by the city council recently included a pub and empty Prezzo restaurant in Birmingham.

Agricultural land was highlighted by former council leader David Mellen as one of the types of assets that Nottingham no longer needed. Councillor Mellen said in 2023: "There are some things that are not particularly useful to us. Were you aware that the council up until recently owned nine farms? Is that part of our everyday business? Does it help the people of Nottingham to have nine farms?"