Plan for houses on old bitumen works gets £2.2m public grant

The Government’s Homes and Communities Agency has already agreed to provide £2,226,000 for the Carlisle Park development, which was once owned by chemicals firm Croda.

The 12-acre site on the edge of Rotherham villages Swinton and Kilnhurst has been vacant for many years, and outline permission for housing was granted earlier this year.

When considering the application, councillors were told that housing was the only use likely to generate enough cash to clean up the site and give it a sustainable use.

Sheffield-based Gleeson Homes is behind the scheme, and yesterday the firm submitted a validation certificate to Rotherham Council to say “remediation work” was complete.

Once the final paperwork has been signed off by the council the Get Britain Building HCA funding will be released, allowing the first 125 homes to be built, with the first to be available next March.

Craig Johns of the HCA said yesterday: “The development at Carlisle Park offers a real choice of quality homes to local residents where they want to live at a price they can afford.

“Our investment will ensure that a local firm will provide these homes which will help safeguard jobs in South Yorkshire.”

Applications submitted to the council as far back as 2006 show that the site was “grossly contaminated” from its previous use, and was therefore a challenge for national remediation contractor Sirius.

According to paperwork submitted to the council, the company carried out two major projects, one of which involved an “engineered capping layer” across the whole of the site.

The other, known as solidification-stabilisation, involved mixing cement or lime with polluted soil to “bind and encapsulated mobile contaminants” to stop them leaking into the nearby River Don and Sheffield and South Yorkshire Canal.

Finally so called “development platforms” will be constructed, meaning that around 3 and a
half feet (1.1m) of uncontam-
inated soil will be brought into
areas where houses will be
built.

Recent calculations showed that Rotherham needs to build almost 22,000 new homes to meet demand up to 2026 and planners said the development would help meet this target.

Gleeson said many companies had been reluctant to develop the land due to the high levels of contaminants in the soil.

The firm said that over the past 20 years the land has remained an eye sore for local residents,
attracting antisocial behaviour and presenting a potential health risk.

It said it’s remediation strategy ensures that no harmful contaminants leave the site, ensuring the health and safety of both local residents and future home owners on the development.

Steve Gamble, of Gleeson Homes said: “We are delighted that Carlisle Park is part of Get Britain Building.

“The programme will help us to deliver the first tranche of 125 new homes from an overall scheme of 381 properties which are built and priced to suit local people.

“The project will also have a positive effect of the wider community with the creation of new jobs, apprenticeship opportunities for local young people and investment back into the local area.”

The HCA’s £420m Get Britain Building fund was announced as part of the Government’s Housing Strategy for England in November 2011.

The agency said the programme aims to “unlock stalled sites with planning permission to support construction activity and restart work on sites”.

The fund was increased by £150m to £570m in March 2012. The HCA has now shortlisted 224 schemes that will be invited to take part in a thorough due diligence process.