Green belt land in Derbyshire proposed for 260-home development

Bloor Homes East Midlands has submitted plans for 263 homes on a 30-acre agricultural field, located between Spondon and Spondon Wood, near Bluebell Farm.

This area is in the Green Belt and is home to numerous deer.

In 2021, Erewash Borough Council began considering the site for potential housing, initially proposing 200 homes, which later increased to 240 homes.

The company has provided specific information indicating that only 9.9% of the homes on the site would qualify as affordable housing, totalling 26 homes.

This falls short of the widely accepted standard of 30%.

Additionally, the company states that it will provide funding equivalent to the construction of another 10 affordable homes in a different location within the borough.

Among the planned properties, there will be a total of 641 parking spaces (averaging 2.4 spaces per home). These properties comprise 32 two-bedroom houses, 146 three-bedroom houses, and 85 four-bedroom houses.

When the borough council sought residents’ opinions on the development of the Spondon site, 708 individuals submitted letters in opposition to the plan, and more than 1,600 people signed a petition against it.

If approved, Bloor Homes intends to begin construction on the site in 2025 and build approximately 50 homes each year. Access to the site would primarily be from Dale Road, with a continuous road running from east to west across the area.

Campaigners have raised various objections to the development, including concerns about its impact on local wildlife, especially the deer in the area, while they are also worried about increased traffic in already congested Spondon due to the new estate.

Additionally, there are concerns about Spondon having to provide infrastructure services like schools and healthcare, even though the housing falls under Erewash Borough and the lack of consultation and dismissal of feedback from Spondon residents by Erewash Borough Council.

A final decision will be announced by the borough council in the next few months.