Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire housing projects scrapped or scaled back in 'incredible' move

Housing projects forming part of a major scheme to build over 1,000 homes across Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire are being scaled back or deleted in a move one local leader has described as "incredible." Nearly £17 million is set to be spent across both counties to deliver 1,399 new homes on brownfield sites.

That number has slightly reduced from the original 1,479 homes planned after several projects forming part of the original number were cancelled. No Nottinghamshire projects have been cancelled, with the bulk of changes affecting Derbyshire, but a housing development on Queens Road in Nottingham has been reduced from 382 homes to 274 homes.

The project is being managed by the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) under the leadership of East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward. The £16.8 million brownfield housing scheme had been established by the previous Conservative government, who signed the deal creating the EMCCA, and Mayor Ward said she is lobbying for it to be changed.

A meeting of the EMCCA board on Monday (November 4), held in Newark, heard that the changes had been made to several projects "following initial due diligence." A report before the board added: "It is highly likely and probable that further changes will follow from more detailed stages of due diligence."

The Queens Road development in Nottingham was one of five confirmed as forming part of Nottinghamshire's brownfield housing projects, with the others being:

1. The Island Quarter Phase Two, Nottingham - £4.16 million requested - 322 homes - 0% affordable
2. Hawton Lane, New Balderton (Nottinghamshire) - £2.47 million requested - 309 homes - 32% affordable
3. Trent Basin West Phase One, Nottingham - £900,000 requested - 45 homes - 0% affordable
4. Leviers Court, Arnold (Nottinghamshire) - £290,000 - 30 homes - 100% affordable

Projects affected by the changes in Derbyshire include plans for over 100 homes in Bolsover, which have been cancelled altogether, and a project for 50 homes in St Peter's Street in Derby being reduced to 32. Speaking at Monday's meeting, Nottinghamshire County Council leader Ben Bradley said the changes were evidence of "bidding without necessarily having the robustness of the schemes or the strategic oversight behind it."

Councillor Bradley added: "Perhaps the fact that many of these have been scaled back or taken off the list just demonstrates that we need to take a much more strategic approach to managing this process and do it based on priorities." Also criticising the changes was Broxtowe Borough Council's leader, Milan Radulovic, who said: "I'll try and dwell on the positives if I can, rather than the inability to select a deliverable set of sites from a list. I find it really quite incredible."

Mayor Ward largely agreed with the criticism, saying: "This is not a scheme that we've created, it's a scheme we inherited and the criteria for determining it and therefore it's made it quite difficult to shoehorn effectively some of these schemes around and make sure that they meet that criteria. Representations continue to be made to the new government on the basis that this is not the way we would wish to continue and I think that's the view of all the mayors."

Commenting at the time of the housing projects originally being confirmed, Claire Ward said: "I'm delighted we’ve been able to kickstart a housing revolution across the region so quickly and begin the challenges of delivering the homes people here need. These housing developments will see under-used sites brought back into life in our cities and communities with work starting on some sites."