Key sites to get extra help in East Midlands ‘regional push’

Six priority East Midlands regeneration projects will receive planning, funding and infrastructure support, as part of plans to build more than 100,000 houses over the next decade.

East Midlands Combined Authority and Homes England will confirm their top regeneration priorities next week, almost a year after the two organisations signed a strategic place partnership aimed at increasing the supply of housing development land across the region.

A report set to go before EMCCA’s Housing and Land Committee next week will confirm priority status for flagship schemes such as Capital&Centric’s town centre regeneration project in Buxton, the Homes England-backed Broadmarsh regeneration in Nottingham, and Derby’s Station Quarter scheme.

Also included is the Infinity Garden Village and the South Derbyshire Growth Zone, Chesterfield town centre and Spire Neighbourhood, and Fairham.

The two organisations have been developing closer ties for several years, most notably in Nottingham, with Homes England agreeing a deal to buy up the troubled Broad Marsh shopping centre site in March last year.

East Midlands Mayor, Claire Ward, set a target for housing development of more than 100,000 homes over the next decade to 2035 at the launch of the combined authority’s growth plan in October last year.

“Across the East Midlands, we need more good-quality homes and better places where people can live, work and invest,” she said.

“We have an ambition to support more than 100,000 new homes over the next decade, but we know that bringing forward major sites is not always straightforward. Planning, land, infrastructure and funding can all hold schemes back.

“That is why this partnership with Homes England and councils across the region matters. We are focusing our efforts on the places where we can help remove those barriers and get projects moving.

“These six priority areas show the scale and variety of the opportunity in front of us – from town and city centre regeneration to major new communities. With the powers and investment that come with devolution, we have a real opportunity to create more places that people are proud to call home.”

EMCCA says the projects identified are those with the best chance of delivery – but adds it wants to continue working with other schemes to get them over the line.

The authority says support provided could include masterplanning, technical due diligence, pre-application planning advice and site assembly to bring further sites onto the pipeline.

“Homes England and EMCCCA will continue to work with partners to develop and maintain a robust pipeline of opportunities for new homes, inclusive growth and placemaking,” says the report.

“Both organisations will work together and with local authority partners to bring the pipeline forward for development, finding solutions to remove barriers where the market will not.”

The full list of schemes included is:

• Buxton Springs Shopping Centre regeneration project.
• Derby City Centre/Station Quarter
• Infinity Garden Village/South Derbyshire Growth Zone
• Chesterfield Town Centre/Spire Neighbourhood
• Nottingham City Centre regeneration including Broad Marsh
• Fairham