WORK to create a 17-acre country park on the site of the former Macaulay Lane tip in Grimsby could begin in July.
North East Lincolnshire's Planning Committee yesterday approved the application by landowner Millennium Park to decontaminate the 23.7-hectare former landfill site and create within it a country park.
It also granted outline planning permission for the company to build 250 homes on the adjoining site to the east, formerly an allotments and school field.
Graham Corser, a director of Millennium Park, told the committee the housing development would benefit the West Marsh and the wider Grimsby area, providing good quality family housing in a sustainable yet economically-deprived area.
He confirmed the company had agreed to make the full education contribution of £704,753 to the council in recognition of the impact of the development in school places.
However, because of the cost of decontamination required to enable the development, and the relatively low market value of the proposed houses, the council has not insisted on a set quota of "affordable" housing being agreed upon at the outset.
Mr Corser acknowledged the frustration the committee may have felt in having to renew planning permission for the site yet again, but stressed his company's intention to commence work on the country park in July, with completion due next year.
He said the development would be a "game-changer" in terms of making the area more attractive to potential investors, adding that the short-term negative impact of the remediation work would be outweighed by the positive long-term environmental improvement.
Councillor Philip Jackson (Con, Waltham) said: "I very much welcome this development.
"This is the sort of development we should be encouraging in this area rather than the greenfield applications we have seen coming forward in recent months. This is a sustainable location."
Referring to the access road from Cromwell Road which has already been built, Councillor Ray Sutton (Lab, Freshney) said: "The road to nowhere is to become the road to somewhere and that is a really good thing.
"However, it is the travel aspect that concerns me. Is the road to nowhere really an adequate road for the strategic development of this part of town?"
