Fears have been raised over levels of pollution that might be created by a huge new business park planned for a swathe of wasteland next to Derby’s Pride Park.
Earlier this year, St Modwen submitted an outline planning application to Derby City Council to develop the 70-acre site in Wyvern Way.
Formerly known as the Derby Triangle, the scheme, renamed St Modwen Park Derby, would provide 650,000 sq ft of space for potential office, retail, restaurant and pub use, creating upwards of 1,250 jobs.
The application, submitted in conjunction with Network Rail, which owns the former quarry and landfill site, is a revised version of a previous application made in 2014.
The new plans have more of a focus on creating industrial and logistics space, which St Modwen says is a “priority growth sector”.
But Karl Suschitzy, senior environmental health officer at the city council’s environmental protection team, has raised “significant concerns” over the levels of pollution the development might create.
The plans are currently in the consultation stage - and in a letter commenting on the plans, he is worried about the impact the development would have on air quality.
He wrote: “The development is of considerable scale and is expected to significantly affect traffic flows around the local road network. Consequently, air quality is an important consideration.
“I have significant concerns about the increases in nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations, especially those predicted around Nottingham Road, in Chaddesden.
“This particular location exhibits one of the highest concentrations of NO2 in Derby and is a primary target to be tackled under the council’s emerging Air Quality Action Plan.
“The predicted increase in annual average NO2 concentrations caused as a result of development-generated traffic created by the scheme, would be in direct conflict with the plan.
“Consequently, the Environmental Protection Team would object to the application on air quality grounds.
“Should the Local Planning Authority still be minded to grant planning permission regardless of these concerns, then the Environmental Protection Team would strongly recommend the design and implementation of a significant air quality mitigation package.”
In contrast, the city council’s regeneration and major projects team, has written a letter in favour of the proposals.
It wrote: “The proposed development represents an appropriate use of the site and will have a positive impact in terms of job creation for the city of Derby and the wider area (albeit to a lesser extent than the number of jobs provided by the original planning permission).
“Limiting the provision of office use on the site will reduce the potential for competition for office space within the city centre Central Business District office market.”
Responding to the concerns about potential pollution, Euan Lindsay, senior development manager at St Modwen, said: “We’re proactively and productively working with the local planning authority, as well as air quality and traffic management specialists, to ensure our scheme has minimal impact on the existing local air quality.
"We’re also proposing a number of initiatives to further boost the sustainability of the development, including electric vehicle charging points and enhanced pedestrian access to public transport links and cycleways.”
If given the go-ahead, site works are targeted to commence this autumn with the first units being available in early 2021.
The work would be carried out in phases, the first being the creation of access from the Sainsbury’s roundabout at the Wyvern and an internal road to serve the first plots.
The industrial buildings would be constructed first, followed by the office buildings and retail outlets.
