Spondon stretched but could have 1,200 more homes

By Nigel Slater – Local Democracy Reporting Service

Fears that “terrible” traffic in a Derby suburb could worsen have intensified with the possibility that it could have almost 1,200 new homes.

Developer Bloor Homes has written to Derby City Council outlining its intention to build up to 240 homes on land off Locko Road, in Spondon.

It comes just days after Keepmoat Homes submitted plans to build up to 200 homes on the Spondon side of Acorn Way, near Derby Road.

But that is only a portion of what could be to come. Hundreds more new homes are in the pipeline for the area.

It was reported last year that there were plans to build 400 homes off Stoney Lane as part of the council’s new local plan for city housing, which is currently in draft phase, and a development was controversially approved by Erewash Borough Council last year for more than 250 homes at Spondon Woods, which is located outside the city’s boundary.

In addition, 90 homes were controversially approved at Royal Hill Road following a planning inquiry almost a year ago.

Should all the pending developments get the go-ahead, it would mean Spondon and its boundary could have almost 1,200 new homes in the coming years.

But all this comes at a time when infrastructure is already said to be “stretched” in Spondon, including health services and school places.

There have also been reports that the suburb is already hit with traffic problems – with congestion described as “terrible”.

Traffic problems have been so concerning that there is a campaign to limit the number of Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) passing through. But how will traffic look if 1,200 more homes are built?

This has prompted local councillors to have “frank and very honest” discussions with council chiefs and Bloor Homes, which recently launched a pre-application consultation on its plans to build off Locko Road.

Following this, the developer has now submitted documents to Derby City Council asking whether an environmental impact assessment (EIA) is required in its incoming planning application.

Spondon councillor Jonathan Smale recently stated Spondon was becoming a “town” with “little to no infrastructure to match”.

He said: “I stated that the biggest problems we have are health services and secondary school places as West Park is oversubscribed.

“I said many of us in Spondon struggle to gain access to appointments at our surgeries and often have to visit alternative health facilities.”

On its consultation website for the Locko Road development, Bloor Homes states: “We want to deliver a high-quality, healthy new neighbourhood, with a focus on providing extensive green public open spaces and significant biodiversity enhancements.

“Around two-thirds of the overall site area will be retained as open space, and existing mature trees and hedgerows will be retained. New landscape planting will deliver a significant increase in tree cover across the site, as well as reinstating historic hedgerows that had been lost to intensive agriculture.”