On the high ground east of Bennerley Viaduct, where open plateau farmland drops toward the River Erewash, a major transformation is being proposed.
Harworth Group has submitted a pair of linked planning applications covering land between Awsworth, Giltbrook and the Erewash Valley. Together, they amount to one of the largest development proposals seen locally in recent years.
At the heart of the scheme is an outline application for up to 130,000 square metres – roughly 1.4 million square feet – of employment floorspace. The plans allow for warehousing, general industrial and light industrial uses, with buildings up to 25 metres high. Access would be taken from Shilo Way and the A610, with the detailed design of the buildings reserved for later approval.
Alongside the employment site sits a second, full application for a new 24-hectare country park stretching along the river corridor and around the base of the viaduct. The park would include meadow planting, wetland habitat creation, boardwalk routes and new footpaths connecting into the wider public rights of way network. Much of this land lies within Flood Zones 2 and 3 and is described as “water compatible development”.
Taken together, the proposals divide the landscape in two: plateau land above for employment, floodplain below for parkland.
Because of its scale, the employment scheme is classed as Environmental Impact Assessment development. That means the application runs to more than 100 documents and includes detailed studies on landscape and visual impact, ecology, heritage, transport, air quality, noise, flood risk and ground conditions.
The Environmental Statement acknowledges that the development would result in major to moderate adverse landscape effects in some areas, with significant visual effects for certain users of nearby public rights of way. Mitigation, including extensive woodland planting and green infrastructure, is proposed to soften those impacts over time.
The economic case is central to the application. The applicant estimates that the completed development could support 2,626 gross full-time equivalent jobs, equating to 1,726 net additional jobs once adjustments are made for displacement and leakage. Annual Gross Value Added is put at £183 million, with projected business rates income of £2.5 million per year. Construction alone is estimated to support several hundred temporary jobs.
Traffic modelling forms another key part of the submission. A full Transport Assessment examines vehicle movements, junction capacity and air quality along the A610 corridor, with modelling of HGV flows and emissions at sensitive receptor locations.
The public notice describes the proposal as a “departure from the Local Plan” and as major development. In planning terms, that means councillors will be required to weigh the scheme’s economic benefits against acknowledged environmental and landscape impacts.
What is being proposed is neither a small industrial estate nor a simple parkland enhancement. It is a substantial employment park on elevated ground overlooking a historic river corridor, paired with a significant area of new public green space below.
In the coming days, Ilkeston News will examine the key elements of the scheme in more detail – from the jobs case to the environmental trade-offs and traffic modelling – to help residents understand exactly what is at stake.
