Green light for third phase of Mansfield's Poppy Fields development

The 77-home council-backed scheme was put before councillors on Tuesday (August 31) and will give new life to a derelict site off Broomhill Lane.

It marks the next stage of the major scheme, with social housing and properties for elderly residents confirmed within the plans.

As the planning authority, the council submitted the plans to itself and will now build 16 bungalows and 32 apartments for older people on the land.

This would come as an extension to the existing Poppy Fields development for older people, which first opened in 2016 and also has a care home on-site.

A further 25 houses and four apartments will also be built as social, council-owned properties, marketed as 100 per cent ‘affordable’ for families.

However, the planning committee meeting heard concerns from a resident in the Poppy Fields development who feared family homes were not an appropriate addition to the area.

Councillors were told the estate is a “very safe environment” for elderly people in the development, with concerns raised over potential anti-social behaviour issues from social housing.

Concerns were also raised over increased traffic problems on Poppy Fields’ Centenary Road access point, connecting to Chesterfield Road, which was described by the resident as a “death trap”.

Councillor Brian Lohan (Lab), who represents the Portland ward, added: “With there being a lot of elderly and disabled there, I’m concerned with the social housing.

“Some of the residents have been there for quite some time, eventually with right to buy the houses could be passed onto landlords who might downgrade the site.

“I’d prefer all the housing there to be for elderly [people].”

However, members of the committee voted in favour of giving the scheme the green light.

Councillors were told the properties for older people will be accessed via the same Centenary Road access point, extending the road into the new development.

But social properties and family homes would be accessed by three separate points off Broomhill Road, with no through-road between the two separated developments.

The estate will be blocked off to cars at points in its centre, with only pedestrians able to pass through between Broomhill Road and Centenary Road.

The site will also make use of brownfield land that previously housed 200 homes before they were demolished and the site was acquired by the council.

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