By Andrew Topping, Local Democracy Reporter
A 169-home extension to Mansfield’s Bellamy Road estate first drawn up more than two years ago is still likely to go ahead – but developers may need to pay significantly more in community contributions.
Extra checks on the plans may also need to be provided amid major planning changes since the proposals were first approved two years ago.
The development, off Old Newark Road and Redruth Drive, was given outline planning permission in May 2020 but no progress has since been made.
At the time of approval, the authority was still in the process of adopting its local housing plan, which was later rubber-stamped in September 2020.
Now the Bellamy Estate plans are due back before the authority’s planning committee for another review after council officers decided the adoption of the local plan constituted a “material change in circumstances”.
The plan, put forward by O’Connell Property Ltd, proposes 169 homes on greenfield land between Redruth Drive and Old Newark Road.
It would feature a mix of two, three and four-bedroom homes and apartments.
The initial planning application received 14 objection letters, with concerns raised about traffic on Bellamy Road and residents’ privacy.
There was also a petition with 107 signatures calling for planners to consider a different secondary access route off the nearby Sherwood Oaks business park, on Sherwood Avenue.
Residents said the plans would have a “detrimental impact” on their street without the alternative access point, but councillors opted against these calls.
Councillors will again debate the same proposals in the same form on November 21 to determine whether the earlier decision is still in line with local and national planning policies.
The land has since been allocated in the local housing plan – meaning it can be used as a housing development – while there have also been some changes to the national planning policy framework.
This means councillors could consider extra elements to the plans, including asking for further documents and assessments to be provided, and may seek further Section 106 developer contributions.
The authority’s planning department said: “As it is an allocated site, and part of the overall strategy for the development of the district up to 2033, MDC planning policy has raised no objections.
“However, there has been no progress since the resolution to grant planning permission was made.
“As such, it has been necessary to relook at the proposal in light of any policy changes that have occurred, such as the fact that the local plan is now adopted and can be afforded full weight.
“As a result of this, the applicant would or may need to include a health impact assessment, a masterplan and phasing plan, update the ecological assessment [and] update the transport assessment.”
Additional developer contributions will include asking for ten times more cash for strategic highway improvements, with an earlier request of £25,000 to be increased to £253,162.
The developer will also be asked to provide £840,128 for secondary education contributions, £90,322 for special educational needs education, and 17 homes must be marketed as ‘affordable’.
There will also be £57,400 for bus stop improvements, £10,324 for waste management and £91,576 for healthcare provision.
Further cash requests for a reptile receptor site and the provision of on-site open space are to be confirmed at a later date.
The council’s planning committee is recommended to approve the updated plan when it meets next week.
Councillor Stuart Richardson (Lab), the authority’s portfolio holder for regeneration and growth, previously welcomed the development when it was approved in 2020.
He said: “It is good news that this plan for much-needed new housing can now move forward.”
