Planning approved for a new mixed tenure housing development

A new mixed tenure housing development is to be built on a 14.85ha brownfield site off Donnington Wood Way.

The new development of 329 new homes is being bought forward by a partnership comprising of Telford & Wrekin Council, Nuplace Ltd – the Council’s wholly owned housing company, Lovell Partnerships Ltd and Housing Association, Wrekin Housing Group.

Serving the needs of the local community and in line with the Council’s Housing Strategy, which seeks to ensure that all people have access to safe and appropriate housing, this site will see a mix of properties for open market sale, private and affordable rent and Rent to Buy, plus dementia care and supported living units.

The development will be built out by leading construction partner Lovell, who have already developed nine Nuplace sites across the borough over the last 6 years as well as a number of other mixed tenure sites. At this site, 66 homes are being built for Nuplace, which will be available for private rent, as well as 77 for open market sale from Lovell.

A range of properties are also being delivered for the Borough’s largest Housing Association, Wrekin Housing Group. This includes an Extracare facility with, specialist dementia care apartments offering a supported living provision.

These homes will provide housing choice for people of all ages and stages, enabling people to remain within the community, as their needs change.

At the heart of the development, will be a new “Community Hub” providing café and bistro facilities, space to work with free wifi as well as learning suites which can be used by local schools and community groups.

A new children’s play area will also be built on site, linking into enhanced footpaths and wayfinding into and within Granville Nature Reserve, ensuring that this development provides facilities for the new community as well as existing residents of Donnington and Muxton.

Construction work is due to commence in Summer 2021 and continue until early 2025.

Properties within the development will have PV panels and electric car charging points, with a number of Nuplace properties being built to ‘Future Homes’ standards, helping tenants to reduce their fuel bills and at the same time reducing the scheme’s carbon footprint.

Councillor David Wright, Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet member for Housing, said: “This promises to be another excellent development for the borough which will deliver against many of the Council’s strategic objectives relating to housing and our green agenda.

“Regenerating the site and meeting the local housing need will however be carefully balanced with the need to enhance and protect this precious, ecologically rich environment. This is a very special location and we want to make sure it remains a home for nature as much as it will become a home for local people.”

“Nuplace is a huge success story for the Council, with more than 1,000 people living in Nuplace homes across the borough, and we are delighted to be working in partnership with building partner, Lovell and The Wrekin Housing Group to bring forward another quality development.”

Simon Thompson, Director of Development at The Wrekin Housing Group said: “This is a really important scheme for Donnington Wood. The team have been working hard on this for several months and I’m pleased that Telford and Wrekin Council have approved this application.

“We are really pleased to be able to invest in Telford and Wrekin with new homes that offer housing choices for everybody.”

Stuart Penn, regional managing director at Lovell, said: “We’re delighted that planning for Donnington Wood Way has been approved with 329 much-needed homes now on track to become a reality. The progression of this site, alongside Telford & Wrekin Council, Nuplace and Wrekin Housing Group, reflects the potential of what can be achieved when organisations work in partnership.”

As part of the Stronger Communities Programme, The Council secured £3.3 million of funding from the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership to deliver enabling works to support the delivery of this new development, including the construction on two new site accesses off Donnington Wood Way.