Huge 850-home plan between Chesterfield and Mansfield officially gets the green light

Plans for 850 homes, a hotel, petrol station and businesses on land off Water Lane in Pleasley have been given the green light. Photo: Google

The major development, on agricultural land at Pleasley Hill Farm, off Water Lane, was first submitted to Mansfield District Council by developer Helier in 2020.

The company is proposing up to 850 homes on the land, alongside a 160-bedroom care home, a hotel, petrol station, nursery, gym and three plots of employment space.

Members of the council’s planning committee resolved to grant planning permission at a meeting in July 2022, subject to conditions being agreed, including the financial contributions from the developer towards local infrastructure.

These related not only to the stages of the development – including the developer providing plans and work schedules for each phase of the project, with each new stage of the project being agreed by planning officers – but also related to highways, access and environmental factors too, all of which had to be satisfied.

These talks and work on these have now reached the stage where the council is satisfied to give the project the full green light.

Martyn Saxton, council head of planning, said: “The planning committee resolved to grant planning permission, subject to the completion of a Section 106 Agreement based on the heads of terms included within the committee report, before permission was issued.

“Between that committee meeting last year and the issuing of the decision, the council and the applicant have been negotiating the details of that agreement.

“It is not uncommon for negotiations of this kind to take place for developments of this size and for these negotiations to take some time, particularly on schemes of this significant size.

“These negotiations have produced a legal agreement that is clear in terms of the obligations on the developer, and when various infrastructure and financial contributions have to be delivered to mitigate the impact of the development.

“This infrastructure includes off-site highway works, a contribution to expand healthcare and primary school facilities and the provision of public open space, including equipped play areas.

“The development will also have to deliver biodiversity net gain and the legal agreement sets out the mechanics of how that will be demonstrated and monitored. The actual plans for the proposed development have not changed since last year.”