MP writes to Government as disgraced council leader appointed to Planning Committee

Lee Anderson MP has written to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government as convicted fraudster Councillor Jason Zadrozny is appointed to Ashfield District Council's Planning Committee.

• 

• 

• 

The letter reads:

Dear Secretary of State,

Re: Concerns regarding Ashfield District Council planning decisions.

I am writing to advise you of the concerns raised with me by many constituents in Ashfield regarding the Planning system of Ashfield District Council. This has become especially urgent now that disgraced former Council Leader Jason Zadrozny has been subsequently appointed to the Planning Committee.

Last month Councillor Jason Zadrozny, Leader of Ashfield District Council was found guilty of fraud and tax evasion. I wrote to yourself on 22 September to ensure the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government was aware of the situation at Ashfield District Council, and to highlight my concerns about the financial management of the council.

I would now like to draw your attention to the Planning process at Ashfield District Council. Ashfield does not have a formalised Local Plan after the proposed 2018 plan was scrapped by Councillor Jason Zadrozny. In 2024 he submitted a new Local Plan so awful that the Government refused to pass it.

Councillor Zadrozny’s failure to create a Local Plan has left Ashfield vulnerable to unplanned and inappropriate development. I hold significant concerns regarding some questionable Planning applications and decisions from Ashfield District Council and potential conflicts of interest with the Ashfield Independent group who lead the council. Some of these include:

• Permission granted for the development of a property into a dog breeding and cattery facility in Huthwaite by former Deputy Leader, and current Vice Chairman of Ashfield District Council, Councillor Tom Hollis, despite him having a criminal conviction for dangerous dog charges. Councillor Hollis defended Councillor Jason Zadrozny at court. This application was approved despite 298 resident objections.

• Application for 84 dwellings from a newly formed development company called Norcroft Asset Group Ltd, the sole director of whom being Vice Chairman Councillor Tom Hollis’s sister. All the shareholder companies of this company are directed by family members of Councillor Tom Hollis, with a company incorporated by Councillor Tom Hollis himself holding a 40% share in Norcroft Asset Group Ltd.

• Permission granted for a children’s residential home in Kirkby in Ashfield. The company that bought the land is owned by the father of Councillor Tom Hollis.

• Permission granted for 3 children’s residential homes, despite stakeholders opposing the plan, and the Planning officers recommending refusal. Deputy Leader Councillor Helen-Ann Smith was vocally in favour of the scheme despite this opposition. Councillor Smith was one of the councillors who got taxpayers money granted to the fraudulent Ashfield Heritage Society through the Councillors Divisional Fund, and stood up for convicted former Leader Jason Zadrozny at court, even going as far as suggesting their relationship is akin to brother and sister.

• The closure of the long-established Sutton Sailing Club, replaced by a building still vacant over 3 years after its completion, with the council refusing to say who has the lease for the building.

Almost all these projects also saw significant opposition from residents, but the councillors continued to make impassioned arguments in favour of these Planning applications against local will, something that has never been done before to this extent.

There have also been several examples of Planning applications at Ashfield District Council that have been recommended for refusal by the Planning officers, only for the councillors themselves to go against this recommendation and grant approval. I’m sure you will appreciate it is highly unusual for councillors to disregard the recommendation for refusal of the Planning officers, especially when coupled with voiced concerns from various other organisations and strong resident opposition. I find it especially noteworthy that this has happened on multiple occasions.

Despite the ‘change’ in leadership at Ashfield District Council post the conviction of Councillor Zadrozny, the same group of people with incredibly close links to Councillor Zadrozny remain in positions of power at the council. The centre of Councillor Zadrozny’s guilty verdict was his creation of the fake Ashfield Heritage Society, a front to steal money from the taxpayer in Nottinghamshire.

The new Leader of the Council, Councillor Samantha Deakin, and deputy leader and Councillor Helen-Ann Smith gave money to this fraudulent organisation. Both, alongside Councillor Hollis, defended Councillor Zadrozny in court. All three still hold positions of significant influence within Ashfield District Council, with Councillors Deakin and Smith both even sitting on the Planning Committee.

This situation was made even worse following an extraordinary Full Council meeting on Monday 12 October, in which Councillor Jason Zadrozny was appointed onto the Planning Committee as the Non-aligned Independent representative. Given Councillor Zadrozny’s conviction for fraud, this is a total insult to the people of Ashfield and clearly shows that the management of Ashfield District Council is still positioned closely to Councillor Zadrozny, who should be nowhere near any position of authority at the Council.

The Ashfield Independents function as a form of clique, all incredibly closely linked to each other. For example, the trial into Councillor Zadrozny also uncovered that a house for Councillor Smith was purchased with a cheque for £70,626 from Councillor Hollis, with Councillor Smith defending this saying “we all help each other out”.

Once Councillor Smith sold this house for £168,000 on one day she told the trial, alongside paying off credit cards, she paid back Councillor Hollis and gifted some to Councillor Zadrozny. A later report says she told the court she kept none of it for herself, wrote a cheque to Councillor Hollis’s father for £97,000 and gifted the remaining money to Councillor Zadrozny. Councillor Smith also told the Court "They didn't own the house, but I didn't feel it was right to make a profit for something I didn't put money into” essentially admitting it was her house in name only, with all the profits going to other councillors.

This close family-esque nature of the Ashfield Independents coupled with some seemingly unusual Planning choices, overt support of contentious applications, some with family connections to sitting councillors, and the appointment of convicted fraudster Councillor Jason Zadrozny to the Planning Committee means I feel compelled to write to you in your capacity as Secretary of State.

I want to ensure the Government is made aware of the situation regarding Planning at Ashfield District Council, and I am asking you to take the necessary action to ensure the Planning system is functioning in accordance to the expected processes and standards.

I am therefore requesting that in view of the conviction of Councillor Jason Zadrozny for fraud and tax evasion, and his subsequent appointment to the Planning Committee, that you call in and/or investigate any Planning application awaiting a decision, or any application approved by Ashfield District Council where one of the key councillors made a speech, or where the decision was made against the advice of officers or relevant stakeholders.

My constituents in Ashfield deserve to know that the Planning system is not being abused by the Ashfield Independent council, and this has now become a matter of urgency after the appointment of Councillor Zadrozny to the Planning Committee. I would appreciate a response outlining what steps you plan to take to investigate and act upon this further.

Yours sincerely,

Lee Anderson MP

Member of Parliament for Ashfield