Concerns over council's £22m Toton land purchase after HS2 scrapped

Artist impressions of the site show the scale of the development that was to be part of HS2 at Toton

Concerns have been raised about Nottinghamshire County Council's £22m purchase of land at Toton after the cancellation of the eastern leg of HS2.

The council bought a 56-acre (22.6 hectare) plot hoping to take advantage of major development in the area linked to the multi-billion pound scheme.

Opposition councillors fear the authority may lose out financially now the project has been scrapped.

The council has said the land, off Toton Lane, has not lost value.

The Conservative-run council decided to buy the land, which has planning planning permission for 282 homes, in November 2018 for "future development in conjunction with the proposed HS2 rail route".

At the time, the government estimated the Toton HS2 hub could create 10,000 new jobs for the area and unlock the building of 4,500 homes.

The council said it would decide what to do with the land off Toton Lane in the new year

Independent county councillor Steve Carr said: "We need to know if the price of this land has been impacted by the failure of the government to keep their promise over HS2."

He asked the county council if it had recently had the plot valued and what it now intended to do with it.

The council's cabinet member for economic development and asset management Keith Girling said: "The land was purchased with the benefit of planning consent for the residential use on which the original purchase price was based.

"At the time of purchase, risk to the council was mitigated by the ability to sell on for residential use should proposals around HS2 falter.

"This remains the case."

He said the land had not been recently valued but council officers had advised him the value of it would have risen since it was bought because of market conditions.

He added: "We haven't decided what we are going to do with it yet, if we are going to sell it, if we are going to build on it, or what's going to happen to it, so it wouldn't be the right time to get it professionally valued."

Mr Girling said the county council would work with Broxtowe Borough Council and the East Midlands Development Corporation to decide its future use in the new year.

The government has said the East and West Midlands will get a share of £9.6bn, saved from the HS2 budget, for transport infrastructure.