Homebuilder pulls out of Barwell SUE
Taylor Wimpey no longer building 2,500 homes
A MAJOR developer has pulled out of a project to deliver 2,500 homes on farmland in Barwell as part of the controversial SUE.
Taylor Wimpey, one of a consortium of housebuilders, has exited the scheme leaving just Ainscough Strategic Land and Barwood Development Securities as project partners.
Discussions between the consortium and Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council have dragged on for almost three years without a brick being laid.
Despite being deeply unpopular with locals the SUE was approved in March 2015, subject to the satisfactory completion of a Section 106 deal.
This deal, which safeguards cash for community and infrastructure improvements as well as affordable housing quotas, has yet to be agreed.
What was hoped to be a final version was drafted last year but has still not been signed off by all parties.
Now Taylor Wimpey bosses have decided involvement is no longer in the firm’s best interest.
A spokesman for the High Wycombe based construction giant said: “We have taken the decision to withdraw from the Barwell Sustainable Urban Extension (SUE) project. We spent a long time in discussions with our consortium partners Ainscough Strategic Land and Barwood Development Securities, as well as Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council officers, but we reached the view that it was not in the best interests of Taylor Wimpey to remain involved.”
It is unclear how the departure will impact the SUE. However, it seems the council and the remaining developers are pressing ahead.
A borough council spokesman said: “We are disappoint- ed that Taylor Wimpey have decided to withdraw from the Barwell SUE project. We will continue to work with the consortium in bringing the project forward.”
The multi-million pound project was first mooted a decade ago. It is expected to bring 2,500 new homes and 6.2 hectares of employment space to the north and west of Barwell over the course of more than 10 years.
The 132.4 hectare site is also earmarked to feature sports pitches, a pavilion building and changing rooms, areas of formal and informal open space, children’s play areas, landscaping, allotments and public realm works, pedestrian and cyclists connections and a community hub comprising a primary school and a health centre, or alternatively a family pub and retail and commercial units.
The long impasse of the Barwell SUE has hampered progress on the Earl Shilton SUE, which hasn’t even reached the outline planning application stage despite years of talks stretching back as far as 2009.
According to a spokesman for Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council it is agreement on the Section 106 terms which are proving to be a persistent stumbling bock, in particular a row about providing affordable housing.
The Earl Shilton SUE consortium (Barwood, Bloor Homes and Jelson Homes) claim it is not viable for them to offer any affordable housing on the site - the borough council disagree.