Newark and Sherwood District Council commits extra £3.76m to save Yorke Drive regeneration project after Homes England walks away

A council is set to commit an extra £3.76m to save a major community regeneration project.

Homes England had indicated it would help fund the multi-million-pound renewal scheme at Yorke Drive, Newark. So when it unexpectedly ended its involvement, Newark and Sherwood District Council was left with a massive shortfall in funding.

At a policy and finance committee meeting on Monday, members were asked to cover the cost.

The council’s chief executive, John Robinson, said: “I think colleagues have been extremely restrained and professional in expressing their disappointment with Homes England.

“We are nothing short of exasperated and feel very badly let down by them.

“While we clearly need to retain a good relationship with them, I think we will be holding them to account and regularly reminding them how they have let us down over this.”

The Yorke Drive scheme would see 320 new homes built to meet modern space standards, available for both market sale and renting. There will also be a new sports pavilion and playing fields, new access road off Lincoln Road, and improvements to the road network and environment

A total of 130 existing council-owned homes are due to be demolished. Residents have received financial compensation and practical support to help them move.

Local member Gill Dawn said it would be an absolute tragedy if the scheme failed to progress now, not least because work had already started, an archaeological dig had commenced on the Lincoln Road Playing Fields and people had moved from their homes and chosen the design of their new homes.

The council secured £1m from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in 2017 that covered costs through to securing outline planning permission in 2020.

Officers had been talking with Homes England since 2017 and there was an assumption it would part-fund the scheme.

Homes England staff and council officers worked to ensure the project met its funding criteria.

In April 2020, the policy and finance committee approved to move forward with the preferred developer, Lovell Partnerships Ltd, and set the maximum council contribution for the project, dependent on the grant being secured to the value of £3.76m.

The report to the committee said: “The strategic case for the transformation of Yorke Drive remains sound.

“Whilst this project directs significant council resources into one area of the district, the need to invest is clear.

“If the council decides not to continue with the project now that grant funding cannot be secured, then this will mean that while the rationale for intervention at Yorke Drive remains, the needs of the residents and the need to regenerate the area will not be met.

“Yorke Drive is a strategic estate regeneration project, set to transform the entire area, and its evidenced need has secured strong support from existing tenants, owner occupiers and strong cross-party support, reflected through its inclusion in the Community Plan.

“The council has progressed this project over the last five years with a confidence in the positivity and support from Homes England and in turn we have raised expectations among residents that their neighbourhood will be transformed. Withdrawing from the project therefore will impact negatively upon the council’s reputation.”

If the council chose not to progress with the project, it would have been liable for the developer’s costs of £449,061.99. It had also already bought a number of properties on the estate as part of preparatory work.

Labour leader Paul Peacock said: “It’s a worrying situation. If we talk about the narrative throughout this project, the narrative was that we needed Homes England support to make numbers stack up.

“That said, I think we’ve taken the project to the point where we can’t leave where it is. Clearly there are some problems with Lovell in terms of what we pay to them if we walk away from the project but not just that, expectations have been raised within the community, there’s been an awful lot of good community development, community relationship building with those people and lots of assurances made and, obviously, clearly, people have made those big decisions because of the things that we’ve planned.”

A Homes England spokesperson said: “Whilst initial discussions were held with Newark & Sherwood District Council in relation to the development, we did not enter into a formal funding agreement. Homes England remains committed to working with local authorities to provide access to funding for new homes where they are needed most.”