Government announcement to help deliver garden village vision

Funding to help deliver a development of at least 2,000 homes to help address housing demand in Derby City and South Derbyshire, one of the country’s fastest growth areas, has been secured.

South Derbyshire District Council, in partnership with Derby City Council, Derbyshire County Council, developer and landowner partners, has secured a share of a £6m pot, expected to be in the region of around £400,000, under the Government’s Garden Villages, Towns and Cities initiative.

The project is one of 14 such schemes across the UK announced by the Government and was handed down following the Autumn Statement.

The grant will contribute to the costs of developing Infinity Garden Village, encompassing parts of South Derbyshire and Derby City, on land at Wragley Way, near Stenson Fields.

This will accelerate the development of thousands of new homes, create more than four million square feet of employment space and up to 5,000 new jobs, linked to nearby Infinity Park Derby.

The project includes the South Derby Integrated Transport link, a potential new junction on the A50 and other infrastructure that will make it a sustainable site featuring not only housing but a primary school, village hall, health facilities, retail and recreation sites and considerable employment opportunities.

The area includes the recently opened T12 link route, which connects the city’s 100-acre Infinity Park to the A50 via Chellaston and Sinfin, while the South Derby Integrated Transport link will form an important route within the village connecting the housing to the employment area.

The land in question is part of a strategic growth area for both Councils as demonstrated in South Derbyshire District Council’s Local Plan Part 1, which was adopted last year and will go a significant way towards catering for demand in a District whose population is expected to increase by around 10,000 by 2025.

District Council Leader Cllr Bob Wheeler said: “More than 50 schemes nationwide submitted bids for this funding so the fact that ours was among the successful ones again confirms the Government’s confidence in South Derbyshire as an important growth area.

“Our vision is to make South Derbyshire a better place to live, work and visit, and that includes making sure the many people who want to come here to enjoy the high standards of living on offer have the opportunity to.

“Around 1,900 of the new homes in the Infinity Park Garden Village fall within our boundary, so we’re delighted with the news that funding has been secured to help move things forward.”

Encouraging the creation of garden villages, which must have between 1,500 and 10,000 homes, is one way the Government is seeking to satisfy national housing demand.

Deputy Leader of Derby City Council, Cllr Martin Rawson, said: “The Infinity Park Garden Village is important to providing new homes and accelerating development in the Enterprise Zone.

“The new road to be constructed will be an access to the Enterprise Zone, helping to unlock the investment potential there and breaking down barriers in order to accelerate development of the business park.”

Footnote

The ‘bid’ has now been categorised as an ‘expression of interest.’

Further consideration to the drawing down of any funds and the ‘expression of interest’ will be considered by the Environmental and Development Services Committee on 2 March 2017.

3 January 2017