Plans for 650 new homes and community facilities at Mastin Moor and a major extension to the existing business park at Markham Vale have both been approved (Monday 12 December) by Chesterfield Borough Council.
Both projects are being undertaken by the Devonshire Property Group, part of the Devonshire Group. Work on Mastin Moor is due to start in summer 2023 and at Markham Vale later in the same year.
Andrew Byrne, Devonshire Property Group: “We are delighted that the planning committee has approved these exciting projects. They will bring hundreds of much needed new jobs and homes to the area and, just as importantly, throughout their development we are taking a considered and sensitive approach to improving environmental standards and to the provision of training and skills.
“Mastin Moor will gain 650 new homes, including affordable homes, all built to the latest environmental standards. As well as new community facilities such as a residential care home, shops, and health and leisure amenities, 20 hectares (c50 acres) of new parkland will be created. As part of this development we’re particularly proud to provide a home for the Construction Skills Hub, a council-sponsored, Staveley Town Deal project that will deliver a range of vocational courses designed to upskill the workforce in both current construction techniques and those required to create the sustainable homes and workplaces of the future.
“The extension to the business park at Markham Vale is expected to create up to 800 new jobs for local people at what is a very successful development already supporting 2700 jobs in a variety of sectors. We’ve put in place an extensive landscaping plan, which includes protecting and improving the river corridor, and extensive tree and hedgerow planting as well as a large area of grassland. We’re also working with the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust to improve the wildlife habitats on a nearby site that will result in an overall 10% net gain in biodiversity. This is a high-quality extension to a highly successful employment location, with the aim of making a real contribution to the strength of the local economy.”
Mastin Moor
The housing and community development at Mastin Moor will be built on approximately 46 hectares (c113 acres) of land south of Worksop Road. It will deliver 650 new homes, a quarter of which will be built to higher adaptable and accessible standards. The project also includes a new elderly care centre and specialist accommodation, health centre, convenience shops and retail. All of the homes will have access to electric car charging units and will be electrically heated making them some of the most environmentally friendly new homes in the district.
The development will sit amongst 20 hectares of green, open space for the community, with children’s play areas, informal recreation spaces and naturalistic tree planting (approx 8500) to increase biodiversity.
The project is expected to take 10 years to complete and will create 150 direct construction jobs as well as 150 supply chain and other roles. The Construction Skills hub, a council-sponsored, Staveley Town Deal project, will be in place for the duration of the project, providing a range of vocational courses designed to upskill the workforce in both current construction techniques and those required to create the sustainable homes for the future.
Markham Vale
Devonshire Property Group will continue its work with the commercial developer HBD at Markham Vale and hopes to create around 800 new jobs for local people, with a scheme that pays strong attention to its natural surroundings.
The project includes an extensive landscaping plan that makes the most of the site’s existing features, whilst protecting and improving the river corridor. Significant planting will include c. 5,700 new trees (including 2.15ha of new woodland planting), 3.7ha of new grassland habitat and two kilometres of new native hedgerow to screen the development and create areas of new habitat. This creates a 10% improvement of biodiversity net gain over the existing ecology value, in excess of current policy.
Markham Vale was established as a joint venture between HBD and Derbyshire County Council back in 2006 and now hosts more than 2,700 jobs across a wide range of sectors, including advanced manufacturing and logistics. Markham Vale is home to a range of business uses, including Daher Aerospace which is exporting monorail parts to Cairo, Grangers International which manufactures waterproof outdoor products and shoe care products, and Sterigenics, which makes sterile healthcare products.
The success of the existing business park has led to the site running out of space to accommodate large space users and without this new development, Markham Vale will have to turn away investment from the growing industrial and logistics sectors, who require large units at locations with good access to the motorway network.
The site itself comprises two non-protected agricultural fields, bounded by the M1 to the south and keeping a large separation distance between the business park and the village of Woodthorpe. The final design of the buildings will be in accordance with the established design code for Markham Vale, which fixes a limited palette of colours to minimise visual impact. All vehicular traffic will use the existing highway network to allow easy access to the motorway.
Find out more about Devonshire Property Group.
More than 30 shops currently operate at the site, which employs between 80 and 100 people, including national names such as Pavers Shoes, Leading Labels, The Gift Company and Regatta as well as independents such as The Woolroom. Visitors and locals are able to enjoy Massarella’s restaurant and Bamford’s Auctioneers and Valuers also have a sales room and occupy office space at Peak Shopping Village. The site hosts events year round including regular Makers Markets, showcasing the talent of local artisans, and its biggest event, the ‘Peak Festive Spectacular’ at Christmas.
Stephen Vickers, Chief Executive of the Devonshire Group: “Our immediate plan is to retain the existing management team and their deep knowledge of the site in order to support and develop the retail offer and help to protect these important local jobs. Our ultimate aim is for the site to realise its full potential as an important contributor to the fabric of the local economy, and we will be developing our plans for achieving this in the coming months.”
The Devonshire Property Group is a part of the Devonshire Group of companies that represent the interests of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire and includes nearby Chatsworth, as well as Bolton Abbey in Yorkshire and Lismore Castle in Ireland.
“Our team has the experience and expertise to help to reinvigorate Peak Shopping Village so that it’s a better experience for shop owners and those who use the office space, as well as for the local community and visitors to the Peak District and the Derbyshire Dales. We are determined to make it the best it can be, both for our local communities and for the experience of visitors to the area. For us it’s an exciting, long-term investment in Derbyshire, at the gateway to the Peak District National Park and the Chatsworth Estate.” says the Duke’s son Lord Burlington.
Notes to Editors
Devonshire Group
The Devonshire Group comprises the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire’s interests, charities and businesses throughout the UK and Ireland, including Chatsworth, which sits within the Derbyshire Estate, the Bolton Abbey Estate in North Yorkshire, the Lismore Estate in County Waterford, and the Compton Estate in Sussex.
The businesses include visitor attractions, shops, restaurants and luxury accommodation at Chatsworth, Bolton Abbey and in Lismore Castle in Ireland. The estates include tenanted businesses and residential property, a property development business with a pipeline of 2000 homes, sustainable forestry and farming businesses and an estate farm shop at Chatsworth. The Devonshire Group employs approximately 1,400 colleagues across their estates which spread over 65,000 acres. The group is committed to benefitting heritage, people and a shared future, by preserving, restoring and enhancing their heritage assets, by being a significant contributor to their communities and by being seen as a leader in the way they do things.
Devonshire Property Group
Devonshire Property Group is part of the portfolio of Devonshire Group businesses set up in 2016 to deliver the wider group’s property ambitions in the management and development of both residential and commercial property.
The wider group’s ambitions are evidenced in the published ‘Our Commitment to our Shared Future, 10 goals for 10 years’ document, and specifically ‘Goal 1 – To enable the creation of 1000 homes for local families and 1000 jobs for local people’. The Property Group has a pipeline of residential development sites in both Derbyshire and Yorkshire that will deliver over 2,000 new homes over a 20 year period. Creating good places for people to live and for communities to thrive. In addition the Property Group has a pipeline of almost 100 acres of land suitable for various commercial, retail and leisure uses, that will provide valuable employment opportunities with spaces for businesses to grow.
Devonshire Property (Retail) Ltd
Devonshire Property Retail is a subsidiary company of Devonshire Property Group, and has been specifically established to manage, invest in and revitalise the Peak Shopping Village in the village of Rowsley on the edge of the Peak District National Park and the Chatsworth Estate as part of a long term commitment to the local area and its economy by the wider Devonshire Group.
For Devonshire Property (Retail) Group press enquiries, please contact:
Steve Houghton, steveh@redbrickcommunications.com, (07917 671516)
Liz Bee, lizb@redbrickcommunications.com, (0772 0257983)
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