New £1.2bn North Lincolnshire housing scheme approved

The Lincolnshire Lakes scheme will see six new villages being built near Scunthorpe

Plans to build almost 6,000 homes have been given final approval.

The £1.2bn Lincolnshire Lakes scheme, near Scunthorpe, will create six new waterside villages.

Its first phase will feature up to 2,500 new homes including a village centre, a health care facility, community facilities, a primary school, new roads and footpaths.

North Lincolnshire Council leader Rob Waltham said it was a "milestone" for the project and housing in the region.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, planning permission for the scheme was first granted in 2016.

'Keep our promises'

Since then the council and the developer have been in negotiations about how much the company should contribute towards building roads, schools and other infrastructure.

As part of the negotiations, the affordable housing provision and contributions to secondary school education by the developer will be reduced.

Councillor Len Foster, leader of the Labour opposition on the authority, said while he supported the project, he had concerns about the contributions.

"I have always supported this project since it was in its infancy," he said.

"I am still supporting it, but I have some reservations about what is not included in the contributions."

As part of the planning conditions for the scheme, the developers will be asked to provide, a new primary school, parks and one allotment, the construction of a lake, a £5m contribution to build a secondary school and more than £3m towards road and public transport improvements.

Mr Waltham said: "This development has been nearly 20 years in the making and this is a milestone moment for confidence in housing development in North Lincolnshire.

"The scheme has been delayed for the past few years until we were able to keep our promises to local residents to put the right infrastructure in place first."