The Derbyshire town of Long Eaton has plans to build over 100 new homes on the site of former mills buildings, and these have now been recommended for approval.
Last summer, bed spring manufacture Wade Springs – which was based at the Britannia and Portland Mills side in Bennett Street, Long Eaton – filed off for permission from Erewash Borough Council to build 109 properties on the 4.6-acre site.
Should the committee go ahead with the recommendation, a mixture of flats and homes will be built on the site.
The scheme in question would see 21 two-bedroom houses, 19 three-bedroom houses, one four-bedroom house and 68 flats (25 one-bedroom and 43 two-bedroom) put in place.
Previously, Wade Springs had been granted outline permission to build 80 homes on the land in 2012, however this was allowed to lapse in 2016.
Up until 2009, the site – that is bordered one side by the Erewash Canal – was home to a number of mills buildings, including the Portland and Britannia Mills, both of which were built in the early 1900s.
However, a major fire – which initially started in a property that was once occupied by mattress manufacturer Elson and Robbins – gutted the majority of the buildings on the site, and nearly all of them were demolished.
The only remnant of those mill buildings today is a chimney, which has been put to use as it operates as the stationing of telecommunications equipments, while some of the factory walls act as a boundary.
In a report prepared by the borough council’s planning department for next week’s committee meeting, it states: “While the current inability of the development to afford any developer contributions is both disappointing and of concern, it is considered that the principle of the residential redevelopment of this site should again be supported.
“It will make a significant contribution to the provision of housing land supply and remediate a vacant derelict site and that the quantum of development – namely up to 109 dwelling units – can be accommodated adequately within the site, subject to subsequent consideration of a detailed scheme.”
The original planning documents that were submitted to the borough council by Rodwell Planning Consultancy on behalf of the applicant said: “The site has been vacant for some time and the derelict state of the site currently is considered to make an adverse contribution to local visual amenities.”
