Hundreds of new homes are set to be built on a former school site in Bestwood.
The “Poplar Heights’ development sits where the old Padstow School was, although this closed in 2000.
Exact details of the new development are yet to be revealed, with a detailed planning application expected in October.
The scheme is being led by Nottingham City Homes, which bought the land from the city council two years ago.
Initially, it plans to build 287 mixed-tenure homes, meaning some will be rented out and others will be for sale.
It says there may also be two follow-on schemes of 102 and 68 homes in the same locality.
In an invitation to building firms to tender notice sent out by the city council says: “The site enjoys a prime location at Eastglade Road, in Bestwood and an exciting masterplan has been produced.
“Our planning application will be submitted in October 2018, with the delivery phase of the project due to commence in March 2019.
“We are looking for a developer who shares this vision, and who wants to work with us to make it a reality.”
Georgia Power is a Labour councillor for Bestwood, and said: “I completely support it, we need more housing in Bestwood and affordable housing in particular.
“But we do need to be careful to get the infrastructure right around it, particularly with things like education and healthcare.
“I think the most common issue I hear as a councillor is people who want to live in Bestwood in affordable housing, because there’s just not enough housing for the number of people who want to live there.
“So there is definitely a demand for it, but we do need to get the plans right and we will need to look at the infrastructure.”
Jonathan Shaw, Director of Investment and Business Services at Nottingham City Homes, said: “We are committed to providing homes and places where people want to live. This is the next step in our exciting plan to build 287 fabulous new houses on the former Padstow School Site.
“We are now looking for a developer to help us transform the area and build much needed, high quality homes for sale and for rent for local people.”
Nearby resident Linda Hurt, 51, said she welcomed the new houses, but she would be sad to lose the field on which the houses will be built.
She said: “It is a little bit sad to lose it because my kids always used to play there when they were growing up.
“But people have got to live somewhere and a lot of people want to live around here.
“I’m glad that they will be affordable houses.”
Local resident Graham Hurt, 49, said: “You are always hearing about how we need to build more houses, so I think it’s a good thing.
“Bestwood is a good place to live, I think the houses will fill up quickly.”
However Paul Walker, 60, was not keen for the new houses.
He said: “Where are all these people going to work? There’s a lot of people round here who don’t have a job, so a whole load more people moving in is just going to make it harder.
“They will also put a lot of pressure on things like the health system and the roads. Is it going to be able to cope?”
- Gedling Eye now has a Whatsapp group so you can keep up to date with the latest news from across the borough. We will send you one message a day with our main headlines, as well as the big breaking news alerts. To sign up text NEWS to 07958532672. Make sure you add the number to your contacts as ‘Gedling Eye’. We won’t share your phone number or use it anywhere else.
