Linacre Road site to be sold for 300 new homes
Land at Linacre Road is to be put up for sale by Chesterfield Borough Council.
A public consultation was held in October last year into a masterplan which will guide development on the 37-acre site. It proposes using the land for 300 new homes.
More than 200 people attended the consultation events, with around 80 making comments.
After taking into account the issues raised a revised masterplan has now been agreed and the council’s cabinet has approved plans to put the land up for sale in the autumn.
The original plans had proposed creating a landscaped wildlife buffer zone between any housing development and Ashgate Plantation. But following concerns raised during the consultation that a buffer zone could create anti-social behaviour or fly tipping problems it is now proposed to build homes with longer gardens that would back on to the plantation site instead.
Access to the site could either be off one of two sites in Linacre Road or through Leadhill Road, although the final decision on which to use would form part of the decision for councillors when a planning application is made. Members of the public would have the opportunity to comment on any future planning application.
All councils are required by the Government to have enough land available to meet the demand for new housing in the next five years. In Chesterfield, this equates to 380 new homes being built each year to meet the growing needs of the area.
Councillor Terry Gilby, Chesterfield Borough Council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for planning, said: “To meet the demand for housing in Chesterfield we need to bring forward sites like this for development, as not all the housing can be built on brownfield or previously used sites.
“The land will now go on the market to prospective buyers in the autumn. Once we have agreed a sale the housing developer would need to make a planning application to put forward detailed proposals of the type and exact number of houses they would want to build.”
If a buyer is found, and planning permission is given, it is expected that work could start on site in summer 2018.
Councillor Gilby added: “As with all developments of this type, we will be seeking for up to 30 per cent of the housing to be affordable homes.
“Developers would also have to make a Community Infrastructure Levy payment that will contribute to the cost of providing school places, playgrounds or green spaces or other community needs generated by a development like this.”
The Linacre Road land was originally bought by the council in the 1970s to meet future housing needs and is a site identified for in the council’s Local Plan Core Strategy, which was approved in 2013.
The revised masterplan for the site includes ground conditions, ecology and archaeological reports. All of these would need to be considered as part of the planning application process.
Further information about the development, including the masterplan and a frequently asked questions section that provides answers to questions raised during the public consultation, can be seen at www.chesterfield.gov.uk/linacre-road
