First parcel of land sold at Ironbridge Power Station redevelopment

A parcel of land has been sold for the development of 110 homes, on the site of the former Ironbridge Power Station in Shropshire.

The Harworth Group has completed the sale at its Benthall Grange development, to Barratt and David Wilson Homes Mercia.

The nine-acre parcel represents the first phase of Harworth’s mixed-use regeneration of the site, which will ultimately see the delivery of more than 1,000 homes alongside a range of commercial, leisure and community uses.

Plans for the development also include a retirement village, up to 200,000 sq ft of employment space comprising offices and light industrial units, and a local centre offering convenience retail and other services. Community amenities will include a new primary school, allotments and sports pitches, while the former power station’s 1930s pumphouse will be retained and transformed into a flexible space for community and leisure uses.
                                                                  
Barratt and David Wilson Homes plans to develop the houses as part of the first phase, which will range from two to five-bedroom family homes, marketed under the David Wilson Homes brand.

Dominic Harman, managing director at Barratt and David Wilson Homes Mercia added: “We are well advanced with our plans on the delivery on what will be a sustainable flagship development in an exceptional, historic and highly desirable location”.
 
Harworth secured planning for the regeneration of the former Ironbridge Power Station in September 2021, having acquired the 350-acre site in June 2018.
 
The development will incorporate green space, including 56 acres reserved for protecting biodiversity, and site preparation works have seen the installation of six great crested newt ponds, a bat barn and a 21 metre-tall nesting tower for Peregrine falcons.

David Cockroft, regional director for the Midlands at Harworth, added: “Barratt and David Wilson Homes are renowned for their attractive, high-quality and sustainable developments, and we are pleased to be working with them on the first phase of Benthall Grange.

“Their development will act as a key gateway to the site, providing an early sense of place and setting the tone for the wider development. It is testament to Harworth’s vision that within just five years of acquiring a former power station with all its associated infrastructure, we are now in a position to build the first homes of a sustainable new community at the site.”

The development will follow a design code that reflects the character of the local area, including the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site which lies less than a mile away.

Harworth has also maximised recycling of materials from the site, reclaiming around 35,000 tonnes of metal and 70,000 tonnes of crushed concrete for reuse in the development, with the remains of the site’s four cooling towers being used to construct new cycle and footpaths.
 
Construction of this first phase, and marketing for future phases, is expected to begin later in the year, with completion of the entire development expected by 2030.
  

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