Go-ahead for more than 1,000 homes at old power station site
FIRST STAGE OF GIANT SCHEME THAT IS EXPECTED TO SEE 2,000 HOUSES BUILT
MORE than 1,000 homes will be built on the site of a former power station, with councillors wanting to make sure it has a “positive legacy” and does not become a “disappointment”.
In total, more than 2,000 homes are expected to be built on the former Drakelow Power Station site off Walton Road.
It would dwarf the nearby settlements of Walton-on-Trent, Cotonin-the-Elms and Rosliston.
South Derbyshire District Council secured nearly half of the 2,200home scheme at a special meeting this week, with councillors granting unanimous approval for more than 1,000 homes and the area’s apparent Holy Grail – a new Walton bridge and bypass.
The new Walton bridge will replace the “temporary” single-track Bailey bridge, built over the River Trent in the 1940s, after more than a decade of planning. The outgoing bridge will become a footway and cycle path.
It is hoped the new bridge and bypass will bring an end to notorious logjams in Walton and mishaps caused by misdirected lorries unable to squeeze over the narrow crossing.
Of the more than 1,000 homes approved at Wednesday’s meeting, 400 would be classed as affordable housing – said to be a huge upside and a rarity for a complex brownfield site.
The application was effectively rushed to a special meeting ahead of time, with notable frustration from planning officers in their written report, so that funding for certain parts of the scheme would not lapse before it could be used.
At the crunch meeting, Cllr Amy Wheelton, who lives in Walton, said: “This application of 1,042 homes is more than Walton, Coton and Rosliston combined, and these decisions will affect many lives for many decades, hence we have a duty to leave a positive legacy for our residents in this area.”
Cllr Wheelton said she feared the impact the development could have on surrounding roads, even with the restriction for the developer to only see 400 homes occupied before the new bridge must be built.
She said: “Whilst the bridge is being built the developers could begin to develop this site which could make Walton residents’ lives a misery and destroy the country roads from the A38 to Drakelow.”
Councillors were concerned that the financial viability of the scheme could see pledges for affordable housing reduced at later stages. The viability had already been questioned at previous stages.
Cllr Andy McPherson said: “I am not looking forward to you (the developer) coming back and saying it is a complicated site and you can’t afford to do as many affordable houses. Let’s make sure it remains viable. We want this to be a positive legacy, not a disappointment.”
Cllr Robert Pearson said: “The developer mentioned viability and we have got plenty of experience in this community of approving developments and then them coming back and saying it is not viable.”
Steffan Saunders, the council’s head of planning and strategic housing, said that the funding for the 400 homes was coming from Homes England and he said the “urgency” at which the developer wished to move forward with the scheme gave him comfort. He said: “I am confident as I can be that the affordable housing included at this stage will be delivered.”
Cllr McPherson also wanted to make sure that if the site is handed over to multiple developers, it would be a “smooth transition” instead of a “hotch-potch of different developers” leaving new residents living on a “building site” longer than they need to.
Cllr Peter Watson wanted the developer to reconsider the widths of the roads on the scheme, to ensure bin lorries could navigate the site with ease. He said the main road through the site should be seven metres wide and the other roads should be six metres wide. He said: “The whole site is good and I am only tinkering at the edges. We should look upon this very favourably.
“I would like to see them start the bridge and road improvements very, very quickly and hopefully, if this is approved, this year.”
Cllr Trevor Southerd said: “I welcome this scheme. It has been a long time coming, for goodness’ sake.
“Let’s get that bridge across the river and let’s get the site developed.
“I know there will be some disruption in the village as part of that, but it is a necessity that has to happen.”
He called for the main road through the site to be a designated clearway with no on-street parking.
Planning officers said this route would largely be detached and semi-detached houses with two parking spaces on their driveways and some will have separate garages.
Adam Daniels, Countryside Properties director for the East Midlands, told the meeting that the former power station was the “largest brownfield site in the Midlands” and that developing on the site would lessen the pressure of building on greenfield sites. Planning officers told the meeting that a number of changes had been made to the scheme following extensive talks.
This includes removing five homes from an area of the site over the Darklands Brook culvert, which is now a development “no-go” zone after concerns from flood authorities. A further home has also been removed to improve the site’s overall drainage.
More tree planting has also been put forward, along much of the roadside verges, and the spread of affordable homes has been much improved to avoid all of these homes being clustered in one spot.
Instead, affordable homes are split into seven clusters, of no more than 65 in one spot, say officers.
There will also be 12 homes on the more than 1,000-home scheme which will have level-access showers suitable for disabled residents.
Further planning applications will be submitted for a primary school, local centre including shop space, care facility and further housing in due course.
A total of 193 homes have already been built on the north-eastern corner of the site, alongside the railway and opposite Stapenhill, completed by David Wilson Homes.
I welcome this scheme. It has been a long time coming, for goodness’ sake.
Cllr Trevor Southerd