Developers set to be allowed to build 1,100 Derby homes before A38 upgrades

Aerial view of rooftops
-Credit: (Image: Geoff Parry Associates)


Developers, National Highways and planning officials claim building 1,100 homes in a Derby suburb will not have a “significant” impact on A38 traffic. CEG Land Promotions Limited and Robert William Walmsley, who are behind the 1,100-home New House Farm scheme in Etwall Road, Mickleover, want to make a further major change to their 2018 planning permission.

This change, if approved by South Derbyshire District Council, would allow all 1,100 homes to be built before the £250 million Derby A38 project works start. Councillors will make the final decision at a meeting in Swadlincote on Tuesday, October 1.

The developers have promised different thresholds for the number of homes which can be built or occupied before other parts of the wider scheme are required, such as the primary school and health facility. One such promise, which has been changed twice before, most recently last August, is the limit on the number of homes which can be built before the £250 million Derby A38 project works start.

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When the scheme was originally approved in 2018 the developers were only allowed to build and occupy 317 houses by the time the A38 works were completed. In 2020, this was changed to 317 homes being built and occupied by the time the A38 works start and last August that was increased to 617 homes being occupied by the time the A38 works get under way.

Now officials hired by the developers, the council and at National Highways, which is responsible for the A38 and overseeing the pending Derby project, say all 1,100 homes can be occupied without making a “significant difference in operation or queue length at the A38 / A5111 Kingsway junction”. These extensions in the number of homes which can be built have been aided by the continual delays to the A38 project, with the scheme still in limbo, and developers and planners feeling it would be unreasonable to prevent development until the start or completion of a scheme which may never occur.

Artist's impression of housing development
An artists impression of the New House Farm development in Etwall Road, Mickleover -Credit:Geoff Parry Associates

The scheme is currently in limbo as the new Labour Government considers a review of building and infrastructure schemes ahead of its first major budget in October. In August, a High Court judge ruled against Stop the A38 Expansion campaigners and in favour of the Government over the scheme, which would see works to the Kingsway, Little Eaton and Markeaton roundabouts.

Campaigners are considering further petitions against the scheme which has been working through the planning process since 2014. The developers had previously said they could justify removing the condition to enable all the homes to be built before the A38 works in their previous application – to raise the threshold to 617 homes, but did not apply to do so at the time.

They say lifting the restriction entirely would prevent the “stalling” of other parts of the New House Farm development, such as the school, play area facilities and health centre (to be a GP surgery). Derby City Council is concerned about the removal of the restriction, saying they do not agree that the impact of a further 483 homes on the A38 would be insignificant.

City council officials question the sample size of the traffic study used to justify the lack of an impact, saying it used information from 230 homes on the site being occupied. They write that the A38/Kingsway junction “already operates over capacity and that the original decisions by National Highways to allow the original 317 and later 617 dwellings were predicated on the knowledge at that point in time that it would be temporary until the A38 Derby Junctions Scheme started, which no longer applies”.

The new school, shaded in dark yellow, would sit just to the north of the ongoing Avant Homes development, close to the local centre, shaded in purple
The new school, shaded in dark yellow, would sit just to the north of the ongoing Avant Homes development, close to the local centre, shaded in purple -Credit:Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners Ltd

Nine objection letters were submitted opposing the scrapping of the restriction, claiming: “ The traffic at the Kingsway and Markeaton Junctions is completely unacceptable now. Removing the condition would place more cars from increased housing and would lead to much longer delays. The junctions that the condition seeks to protect are for the Royal Derby Hospital. Increasing the traffic in that area could delay emergency ambulances accessing the hospital. The developers have shown a complete disregard for the impact of their housing on the local road network.

“This is the fourth time they have sought to change the condition and each time there is no improvement of the road Junctions- just an alteration of the figures to suit their own needs.”

District council officials, recommending that the restriction to 617 homes should be removed, wrote: “National Highways have advised that the original Transport Assessments were overly robust, and that based on the distribution changes alone, the trigger point could increase significantly without adversely impacting on the strategic road network. It is noted that Derby City Council have raised concerns about the significance of the impact that the cumulative 1,100 houses would have on the A38/A5111 junction.

“However, National Highways have confirmed they are satisfied by the conclusions of the submitted Trip Analysis which illustrates that the impact is not significant, and they consider it acceptable to remove the condition. They also do not request any alternative condition relating to the provision of the “interim” scheme at the A38 Kingsway junction, i.e. full traffic signalisation.

The plans will see 1,100 new homes built on farmland on the edge of Mickleover
A total of 1,100 homes will be built at New House Farm

“National Highways, the consultee who imposed the condition when the original outline planning permission was granted are content with the submitted evidence. They consider that this demonstrates that removal of the condition would not make a significant difference in operation or queue length at the A38/A5111 Kingsway junction and that it is appropriate to remove the condition and allow full occupation of the development.

“It is considered that the benefits that arise from allowing the delivery and occupation of the remainder of the homes approved at the site unfettered by the delivery of the A38 Kingsway junction improvements outweighs any impact in terms of the safe operation of, or queue length at, the junction, and removal of the condition is on balance, therefore, acceptable.”

Meanwhile Bloor Homes and Taylor Wimpey are seeking approval of reserved matters – final details such as layout and appearance – for 710 homes on the site, along with a separate application for the final details of a community centre, sports pitches and children’s play areas, both of which are recommended for approval.

To date, final approval for 317 of the 1,100 homes has been approved, as of August 2020. Active Travel England, Derby City Council and Derbyshire police’s designing out crime officer have all objected due to the lack of sufficient sustainable transport links for walking and cycling – and ones which are lit to maintain public safety.

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