Derbyshire County Council to compulsorily purchase more than 120 acres of land for new A50 junction

A council is set to seize more than 120 acres of land from private landowners and farmers south of Derby to build a new A50 junction and link road.

Derbyshire County Council is set to agree to the compulsory purchase of 129 acres of land between Stenson Fields, Sinfin, Chellaston and the A50 for the Infinity Garden Village project.

The land seizure, with negotiations with landowners still ongoing and preferred, would pave the way for a new £70 million A50 junction at Deep Dale Lane and a link road to Infinity Park.

This is the infrastructure required to build 4,500 homes south of Sinfin and west of Chellaston, through the Infinity Garden Village, and create 5,000 jobs through a massive expansion of Infinity Park all the way to the A50.

Included among this are shops, services, a secondary and a primary school and an expansion of the Sinfin Health Centre to support the overall project.

A new report details that the infrastructure would reduce carbon emissions in Derby by 2 per cent and South Derbyshire by 14 per cent, saving £210 million in “transport economy efficiency” over the next 60 years – £3.5 million per year – through reduced congestion on other nearby A50 junctions.

Last month, an East Midlands Combined County Authority report detailed that the cost of the junction and link road had surged to nearly double its original budget of £37.5 million.

It also detailed that work was due to start this month and be complete by March 2029, with a £1.5 million funding boost from the combined authority.

The initial cost of the junction, granted planning approval in 2021, was £37.5 million, and work had been due to start in 2023 and be complete by “early 2025”, which later shifted to early 2024 to mid-2025. 

In October 2021, the Government awarded £49.6 million to the county council to fund the project, which had increased in price to £55.6 million.

The county council says £4.69 million of the money from Government, which it has now had access to for more than three years, is “subject to clawback” – meaning it could be seized back by national officials.

A report on the issues says, should this happen, the cost would be split 50/50 between the county and Derby City Council – £2.3 million apiece.

Meanwhile, if the council does not draw down the full £49.6 million figure by March 2026 then the entire awarded fund could be withdrawn – but the option to ditch the project could still be taken should that happen.

The council writes: “Should the project fail to draw down the full LUF allocation by the March 2026 deadline, there is no formal assurance from the Department for Transport that the funding agreement will still be honoured. 

“There is, however, ongoing discussion with DfT to secure such commitment and the approval gateway to accept the Levelling-Up Fund grant (post outline business case approval) provides cabinet with the option to not progress the project, should the financial risks be considered too great.”

The county council writes: “A challenging delivery timescale for the scheme requires that alternative arrangements are made through making compulsory purchase orders. This will enable land assembly should negotiation not be successful.”

It says this will “facilitate the preparation, submission and making of such orders and will avoid unnecessary delay later in the delivery programme”.

The council concludes: “The scheme has purposefully been designed to unlock the region to the south of Derby known as the Infinity Garden Village and to stimulate economic growth by facilitating much-needed housing and commercial development across South Derbyshire and into the wider area.”