Home   News   Article

Subscribe Now

Lovell Partnerships promise to work with community over Flowserve Pump Division development in Balderton




With residents raising concerns over the years, the homebuilders behind the development of over 300 houses on the former Flowserve Pump Division site are promising to be “good neighbours”.

Lovell Partnerships was granted planning permission by Newark and Sherwood District Council last month to begin construction of the site, which will see the creation of 309 one, two, three, and four-bed semi-detached, detached, and terrace homes and five bungalows, as well as public space, a children’s playground, and extensive tree planting.

In terms of the homes themselves, the houses will be environmentally friendly as they will include electric vehicle charging points, solar panels, air source heat pumps, and boast an A Energy Efficiency Rating.

The proposed development on the Flowserve site.
The proposed development on the Flowserve site.

The site will include a children’s play area in the middle of the site, and have plenty of open spaces and treescapes.

The plans have been criticised by residents of Balderton, mostly due to the loss of trees on the site and flooding risks.

But Lewis Charity, land and technical director at Lovell Partnerships, said that the developer wants to work with the community to be “good neighbours”, and will be hosting a public meeting in the coming weeks to answer residents’ questions.

Lewis Charity, land and technical director at Lovell Partnerships, at the Flowserve site.
Lewis Charity, land and technical director at Lovell Partnerships, at the Flowserve site.

“We know that the public perception of the site isn't great,” Lewis said, “But all of that history is over now and we're looking at the positive things that we will bring, not only to the site, but the local area.

“Because of the size of the site — over 300 homes — we will be here for around four to five years and we will be neighbours with the local community, so we want to get off on the right foot.”

Of the 300 homes to be built, Lewis confirmed that a number of these will be affordable housing after identifying the need for these homes in the area:

“The first thing we asked is can we provide affordable housing?” he said, “There is no requirement for us to provide affordable housing, but in line with our partnerships business model, we will be providing this.”

Lovell is also going to be providing apprenticeships and training for local people in the trade, such as electricians, carpentry plasters, brick laying and more.

Construction on the site will begin in the new year, Lewis said, and applications for apprenticeships will be open at the end of this year at the Blue Octopus website at https://www.blueoctopus.co.uk/

The Flowserve site.
The Flowserve site.

Lewis said that Lovell is keen to support local businesses in the area by only using local contractors during the construction of the site.

“We don’t want to hire a contractor from Leicester and have them travel in for miles every day, we’re keen to support local businesses by only using businesses and and tradesmen from within a 25 mile radius for the build,” he said, “That way the local community will also benefit from local traders.”

Lovell is keen to get out and about in our local community by supporting local charities and visiting schools and colleges to not only inspire the next generation of youngsters wanting to enter the industry, but to educate children about what is involved on building sites, and educate the dangers of playing on building sites.

Any schools or charities who would be interested in working with Lovell should get in touch.

One of the concerns from people living in the areas is flooding, as Balderton and the surrounding areas have suffered from flood damage in recent years, most recently when Storms Henk and Babet hit the area over the past year.

Lewis is keen to reassure residents that the site has been downgraded from a Flood Zone 2/3 to Zone 1, and is now suitable for housing development, with a flood mitigation pond in the south-west corner of the site.

“The previous land owner did lots of re-configuration on water storage for rain water and that’s downgraded the flood zone rating,” he said, “I do understand the logic that the area floods and putting homes on it will be a problem, but the work by the previous land owner has improved the site and surface water storage.

“All of that work and flood management work has been approved with the Environment Agency.”

There are also plans to improve the road to the site off Hawton Lane, as well as public right of ways which runs along the eastern boundary to make it much more usable for the local community.

At a later date, Lewis confirmed that Lovell will be hosting a meet and greet evening where residents will be able to come and view the plans for themselves, as well as ask questions of the experts from the various teams involved, including community engagement, construction, and more.

“It’s about keeping people informed on what’s going on.”



Comments | 0
This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More