Mansfield Council: Large Mansfield housing plan approved as business park delayed

Plans for up to 400 homes in Mansfield are going ahead, but an adjacent business park has been delayed.

The two applications were heard at a Mansfield Council planning meeting on Monday, November 27, before a full public gallery.

Both sets of plans for land on Penniment Farm, Abbott Road, were recommended for approval by officers in pre-meeting reports.

The housing plan – forming phases two, three and four of the Penniment Farm development – had previously been approved in March.

It returned due to legal confusion over how much the developer was required to contribute to the community.

However, the applicant was questioned during the meeting over affordable housing which hadn’t appeared in the first phase.

Commercial Estates Projects Limited and Hallam Land Management would have been required to build cheaper homes if they had reached 215 properties on the original plot of land.

However, only 202 were ever built.

Councillor Richard Tempest-Mitchell (Lab) pressed for a “guarantee” that the affordable homes wouldn’t fail to materialise again.

Michael Hepburn of agent Lichfields Planning told the committee that the ‘trigger point’ number would almost certainly be reached to make the site viable.

Councillor Jack Stephenson (Lab) said: “Clearly what happened with the previous application has got people’s backs up.

“Whether that was intentional or not I don’t know, but it feels that way.

“But this application has to be judged on its own merits, and the experts had advised this is a fair deal.”

Councillor Sue Swinscoe (Lab) said: “I’m disappointed we were let down the first time, and hope it doesn’t happen again.”

It was approved by four votes to two.

The developer will contribute £2.5m, including £1.5m to local education and £500,000 to public transport, which planning officers described as a “reasonable suite of contributions.”

The future phases will include 30 affordable homes if all homes are built.

The meeting was also due to rule on a 12 hectare business park on neighbouring land, also submitted by Commercial Estates Projects Ltd.

It would have granted permission for six industrial or storage warehouses, potentially creating 500 jobs.

However, councillors said they wanted to see the site in person before making a decision.