Developers ‘pleased’ with support for Mowlands

More than 600 people took part in the consultation process carried out by developers Westerman Homes last year, but only half of these submitted a feedback form and only nearly 50 per cent of these were in favour or offered conditional support to the development.

The scheme consists of a £10m western relief road for Kirkby, 1,800 homes, 12 hectares of employment land, a new access for Ashfield School, a primary school and an extensive community park and the company said it has improved the scheme after listening to residents’ feedback. Changes made include moving the employment area from the south of the site to along the A38 corridor, reducing the size of the development overall and restricting access from existing residential roads into the development.

Richard Bowden, project coordinator, said: “We were pleased with the level of local support. We know the western relief road will relieve traffic congestion in a way that no other development or Local Plan site allocation on the table around Kirkby can.

“We know the level of investment we are able to bring will benefit the town in a way smaller sites cannot.”

Westerman claims that the £200m scheme will create 1,000 permanent jobs ranging from teachers to shop workers and from solicitors to community park gardeners, giving the local economy a much-needed boost.

Mr Bowden added: “Many people consulted were concerned about the loss of green space. Our scheme will help to compensate for this by creating a large community park, which keeps one third of the site green and provides a clear, defensible landscape boundary to Kirkby to prevent further development.

“We’ve designed a very green development, with leafy boulevards, wildlife corridors, cycle lanes and pedestrian routes. This is the quality of development that Kirkby should expect and it will bring a level of investment that other schemes are unable to deliver.”

The plans will be submitted to Ashfield District Council in the next few days. Meanwhile the plans for Westerman’s Larwood Park development have been submitted and are being consulted on already.

They are available to view at www.ashfield-dc.gov.uk by searching the planning applications for V/2013/0656.

A council spokesman said: “The consultation period on the current planning application for the land east of Sutton Road and south of Kings Mill Road East, Kirkby (Larwood Park) ends on 29th January.

“It is anticipated that the decision on the application is likely to be made by 20th March 2014.”