‘Momentous’ land deal paves way for new Garden Village

(L-R): Agents Trevor Wells, Wells McFarlane; James Phillips, APB and Richard Foxon, Newton LDP with James Wilson, Davidsons Homes on the land set to become Broadnook Garden Village

Plans to create a new garden village near Birstall and Rothley in North Leicestershire have taken a step forward following the completion of a “momentous” land deal.

On behalf of two private landowning families, Wells McFarlane, APB and Newton LDP have sold 460 acres of land to Davidsons Homes and Barwood Homes, paving the way for work to begin on the long-anticipated Broadnook development.

The value of the sale has not been disclosed.

The Broadnook Garden Village will include 1,950 homes, 319 of which will be affordable; 15 hectares of employment land; a local centre with a supermarket and community facilities; a primary school; an assisted living retirement village comprising 175 homes and a 70-bed care home; sports facilities; natural open spaces; play areas; allotments; cycle routes and footpaths.

Charnwood Borough Council approved hybrid plans for the development in 2020. The scheme will be backed by funding from Homes England and is expected to create “substantial” employment opportunities.

Construction work is due to begin later this year.

A spokesperson for the three agents said: “This sale has been a decade in the making, requiring extensive collaboration and local knowledge to navigate the complexities associated with a scheme of this scale.

“From the outset, the project was encumbered with significant and numerous challenges including a demanding planning background and highly technical design and infrastructure requirements. However, the team addressed the various hurdles to bring forward this substantial new community that will provide much-needed housing together with employment land, education and a new district centre.”

They continued: “Broadnook Garden Village has been designed and planned as a self-supporting entity of exceptional quality. Strategic sites like this require continuity, so it was important to assemble a team with widespread understanding of the local market to complete a transaction of this size and scale. By uniting three independent, specialist firms, this landmark project has benefitted from multiple resources and a broad range of expertise in rural matters, estate management, planning and development needed to finalise one of the most significant land sales within the region.”

James Wilson, group managing director at Davidsons Homes, added: “The agents, Trevor Wells from Wells McFarlane, James Phillips from APB and Richard Foxon from Newton LDP Limited were a pleasure to deal with. We have been working on this project for a very long time and, as with any big transaction, there have been many problems to overcome and the agents have acted with fantastic professionalism to help us problem solve in order to make this transaction happen.

“We look forward to seeing Broadnook become a wonderful place and an asset to the area, and we take with great responsibility the task to deliver this over the coming years and potentially decades.”

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