Plans for 600 modular homes up for approval
MULTI-MILLION POUND SCHEME TABLED FOR BOOTS HQ SITE
AN application for reserved matters for hundreds of homes on the grounds of Boots headquarters has been recommended for approval.
The application has been brought to the planning committee due to it being a major application on the prominent Boots site off Thane Road, Beeston.
More than 600 homes would be developed on the 17.6 hectare site if the application is approved, which will include 96 houses and 111 apartments on the part of the site that falls under Nottingham City Council.
A further 397 dwellings for the site area that is under Broxtowe Borough Council, who have received a corresponding reserved matters application, creating a total of 604 homes.
This site is located in the southwest area of the campus, and borders the Beeston canal to the south, and all of the proposed homes will be delivered by way of modular off-site construction.
The high street giant has appointed the housing firm ilke Homes to lead the proposed multi-million pound redevelopment scheme.
Outline planning permission was conditionally approved at a Planning Committee meeting on December 17, 2014, for a mixed-use development, including up to 82,000sqm of employment floorspace, residential institutions, non-residential institutions, up to 2,500sqm for retail and food or drink, in addition to up to 675 residential units and the associated works.
The current application for reserved matters is asking for the approval for the residential phase of the outline permission, which includes the outstanding details associated with the development’s access, layout, scale, appearance and landscaping.
East Midlands Chamber chief executive Scott Knowles said: “The Boots factory is a key pillar of Nottingham’s economy and it’s exciting that part of the site will now be turned into a significant new community. The housing development will nicely complement the key employment sites nearby at the Lenton Lane Industrial Estate, as well as Boots itself, and comes off the back of major investment into the redevelopment of the Horizon Factory site, where an anticipated 1,000 jobs could be created in the coming years.
“It means this south-west area of Nottingham, which has good links to the M1 and East Midlands Airport area that is helping the region to become a centre of trading excellence, is fast becoming a strategically important part of the city.”
A spokesperson from Broxtowe Borough Council said: “The scheme currently has outline permission for a 397 modular-build scheme that, if it receives planning permission from committee in December, will contribute to choice and supply of housing with Broxtowe.”
There are 28 properties that neighbour the site, primarily units at The Medway industrial estate and other industrial units, all of which have been notified of the plans.
Two responses were received by the consultation, one of whom was concerned over traffic for the area as “current traffic leaving Boots in the late afternoon rush hour means it can take up to an hour to travel the one mile to the ring road.”
The second response shared concerns that there were no details of proposed cycle connections for the area.
No comments were received from Environmental Health or in regards to biodiversity to the application, and Highways had no objection.
The Nottingham Local Access Forum also raised the issue of the lack of proposed cycle connections.
This south-west area is fast-becoming a strategically important part of the city.
Scott Knowles, East Midlands Chamber CEO