Plans for 650 new homes and community facilities at Mastin Moor and a major extension to the existing business park at Markham Vale have both been approved (Monday 12 December) by Chesterfield Borough Council.
Both projects are being undertaken by the Devonshire Property Group, part of the Devonshire Group. Work on Mastin Moor is due to start in summer 2023 and at Markham Vale later in the same year.
Andrew Byrne, Devonshire Property Group, said: “We are delighted that the planning committee has approved these exciting projects. They will bring hundreds of much needed new jobs and homes to the area and, just as importantly, throughout their development we are taking a considered and sensitive approach to improving environmental standards and to the provision of training and skills.
“Mastin Moor will gain 650 new homes, including affordable homes, all built to the latest environmental standards. As well as new community facilities such as a residential care home, shops, and health and leisure amenities, 20 hectares (c50 acres) of new parkland will be created.
“As part of this development we’re particularly proud to provide a home for the Construction Skills Hub, a council-sponsored, Staveley Town Deal project that will deliver a range of vocational courses designed to upskill the workforce in both current construction techniques and those required to create the sustainable homes and workplaces of the future.
“The extension to the business park at Markham Vale is expected to create up to 800 new jobs for local people at what is a very successful development already supporting 2700 jobs in a variety of sectors. We’ve put in place an extensive landscaping plan, which includes protecting and improving the river corridor, and extensive tree and hedgerow planting as well as a large area of grassland.
“We’re also working with the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust to improve the wildlife habitats on a nearby site that will result in an overall 10% net gain in biodiversity. This is a high-quality extension to a highly successful employment location, with the aim of making a real contribution to the strength of the local economy.”
Mastin Moor
The housing and community development at Mastin Moor will be built on approximately 46 hectares (c113 acres) of land south of Worksop Road. It will deliver 650 new homes, a quarter of which will be built to higher adaptable and accessible standards. The project also includes a new elderly care centre and specialist accommodation, health centre, convenience shops and retail. All of the homes will have access to electric car charging units and will be electrically-heated making them some of the most environmentally friendly new homes in the district.
The development will sit amongst 20 hectares of green, open space for the community, with children’s play areas, informal recreation spaces and naturalistic tree planting (approx 8500) to increase biodiversity.
The project is expected to take 10 years to complete and will create 150 direct construction jobs as well as 150 supply chain and other roles. The Construction Skills hub, a council-sponsored, Staveley Town Deal project, will be in place for the duration of the project, providing a range of vocational courses designed to upskill the workforce in both current construction techniques and those required to create the sustainable homes for the future.
Markham Vale
Devonshire Property Group will continue its work with the commercial developer HBD at Markham Vale and hopes to create around 800 new jobs for local people, with a scheme that pays strong attention to its natural surroundings.
The project includes an extensive landscaping plan that makes the most of the site’s existing features, whilst protecting and improving the river corridor. Significant planting will include c. 5,700 new trees (including 2.15ha of new woodland planting), 3.7ha of new grassland habitat and two kilometres of new native hedgerow to screen the development and create areas of new habitat. This creates a 10% improvement of biodiversity net gain over the existing ecology value, in excess of current policy.
Markham Vale was established as a joint venture between HBD and Derbyshire County Council back in 2006 and now hosts more than 2,700 jobs across a wide range of sectors, including advanced manufacturing and logistics. Markham Vale is home to a range of business uses, including Daher Aerospace which is exporting monorail parts to Cairo, Grangers International which manufactures waterproof outdoor products and shoe care products, and Sterigenics, which makes sterile healthcare products.
The success of the existing business park has led to the site running out of space to accommodate large space users and without this new development, Markham Vale will have to turn away investment from the growing industrial and logistics sectors, who require large units at locations with good access to the motorway network.
The site itself comprises two non-protected agricultural fields, bounded by the M1 to the south and keeping a large separation distance between the business park and the village of Woodthorpe. The final design of the buildings will be in accordance with the established design code for Markham Vale, which fixes a limited palette of colours to minimise visual impact. All vehicular traffic will use the existing highway network to allow easy access to the motorway.
