£100m city homes plan gets go-ahead
PURCHASE ORDER GRANTED FOR REMAINING CASTLEWARD UNITS
THE compulsory purchase of three remaining properties on Derby’s Castleward site have been confirmed following the outcome of a two-day virtual inquiry to look into objections earlier this year.
Castleward is earmarked for a £100 million regeneration programme which includes a community of 800 new homes, a school and businesses on the 30-acre brownfield site between Derby Midland Station, London Road and Traffic Street by 2028.
In November 2019, the Derby Telegraph reported existing businesses in the area were about to receive compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) after Derby City Council had failed to reach an agreement with the owners for purchasing the properties.
The council had been in talks with landowners, leaseholders and occupiers for several years with a view to acquiring land by agreement.
Objections to the CPOs came under the scrutiny of the Government, which ordered the public inquiry to take place in January, although a site visit was not possible until March because of coronavirus restrictions.
Originally, there were 43 plots as part of the land covered by the CPO and at the time the order was made there were seven unresolved objections. This was reduced to three by the inquiry.
Phase one, with 154 homes, has already been completed and work is under way on phase two, which has 54. The area needed for phases three to five is a parcel of land for 512 homes, which includes Liversage Street and John Street, and the land needed to be secured by the city council by March 2022.
The remaining objectors were Tarmac
Trading Limited on plots 10, 15 and 29, which produces ready mixed concrete; electrical wholesalers Midcastle Limited (and others) on plots 16, 30 and 41, and Derby Auto Electric Services (and others) on plots 13, 24 and 31, a family business for vehicle repair and maintenance.
The main grounds of objection were alleged lack of negotiations with objectors, alleged lack of need for the CPO and the implications for employment in the area. Inquiry inspector Phillip Ware said objections on employment grounds had been superseded by the fact it had been known since outline planning permission was granted in 2013 there would be change in the area and the CPO had not come as a surprise. He said: “It is clear the city council has made considerable efforts to acquire the land by agreement. The scheme underpinning the CPO is in accordance with the development plan and has the benefit of outline planning permission.
“Overall, it is concluded there is a compelling case in the public interest for the CPO to be confirmed, that there are no impediments to the regeneration of the land.
“There is a reasonable prospect of the scheme being delivered within a reasonable timescale and I can confirm the compulsory purchase order.”
At the outset of acquiring the Castleward land, the council had funding of £6.813 million available for land value compensation, compensation payments and disturbance costs to be reimbursed. It drew up a list of the affected businesses and also assessed their chances of being successfully relocated. It concluded the most challenging businesses to relocate were the motor trade businesses and Tarmac concrete batching plant off John Street.
Key partners in the development are the city council, Homes England and Compendium Living.
A city council spokesman said: “We are very pleased to hear the CPO has been confirmed. This will enable us to work with our partners and continue delivery of new housing at Castleward over the next few years.
“We will continue to support businesses through relocation.”