Plans to build 53 retirement apartments on a prominent canal-side site in Sandiacre have been approved by Erewash Borough Council’s Planning Committee, despite concerns over the design of the building, traffic impacts and the lack of affordable housing and developer contributions.
The McCarthy Stone development will be built on vacant land between Lidl and the Erewash Canal on Station Road. The four-storey scheme will provide 53 apartments for people aged 55 and over, along with communal facilities, parking and landscaped gardens.
The site has stood vacant for around 18 years and councillors acknowledged that bringing the prominent brownfield site back into use would be a major benefit for the area.
However, the application sparked debate during the committee meeting.
Concerns over traffic and access
Local resident Jacqui Marshall spoke against the proposal, raising concerns about traffic congestion on Station Road and the safety of the proposed access close to the canal bridge.
She argued that the development would add further vehicle movements to an already busy route used by motorists, pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users.
A further objection submitted to the council also raised concerns about highway safety, traffic generation and the proposed access arrangements.
Planning officers and Derbyshire County Council Highways concluded that the traffic impact would not be severe enough to justify refusing the application and recommended approval subject to conditions.
“An absolute dream” site
The strongest criticism came from Councillor Prince, who said the site was “an absolute dream” location for a retirement housing developer because of its position next to the canal and close to the conservation area.
While supporting the principle of redeveloping the long-vacant site, he questioned whether the developer had done enough to create a building worthy of such a prominent location.
Councillor Prince highlighted concerns previously raised by heritage specialists and Sandiacre Parish Council, which had argued that if a four-storey building was to be approved, it should include stronger architectural features reflecting the area’s industrial and canal-side heritage.
He noted that planning officers themselves had concluded the development did not achieve the high design quality normally expected for such a prominent site.
“It would be nice to see a developer that actually wants to put more into their buildings,” he told the committee.
No affordable housing or infrastructure contributions
A major point of concern for councillors was the fact that the development will not provide affordable housing or make financial contributions towards local infrastructure.
Under Erewash planning policies, a development of this size would normally be expected to provide 20% affordable housing – equivalent to 11 affordable homes – as well as contributions towards local services and infrastructure.
The council’s report states that the developer submitted a viability assessment claiming that providing affordable housing and infrastructure contributions would make the scheme financially unviable. The assessment was independently reviewed on behalf of the council and its conclusions were accepted.
As a result, the development will proceed without affordable housing and without contributions including £15,900 towards greenspaces and £3,790 towards local library services.
Councillor Prince said it was disappointing to see another development proceed without making contributions that would normally be expected from a scheme of this scale.
Benefits outweighed concerns
Planning officers acknowledged that the scheme would cause some harm to the character of the conservation area and that the absence of affordable housing was a negative factor. However, they concluded that those harms were outweighed by the benefits.
These included delivering 53 new homes in a borough facing housing shortages, providing specialist accommodation for older people, bringing a long-derelict brownfield site back into use and delivering biodiversity improvements around the canal corridor.
Following debate, councillors voted to approve the application.
The decision paves the way for construction of the four-storey retirement development on one of Sandiacre’s most prominent vacant sites, although the debate highlighted continuing concerns about the quality of development and the ability of councils to secure affordable housing and infrastructure contributions from major schemes.