Markham Employment Growth Zone (MEGZ) is situated in Derbyshire, approximately 5 miles east of Chesterfield. The application site is a series of former colliery works, situated between Staveley in the northwest and Bolsover in the southeast, comprising over 900 acres of predominantly brownfield land.
Derbyshire County Council and Henry Boot Developments Ltd are developing a business park on the site comprising commercial, office, industrial and warehouse development with over 350,000 trees planted for the off plot/infrastructure areas. The proposed scheme received outline planning permission in 2005 with the condition that a Design Code / Framework is produced to guide future development.
The regeneration approach and delivery of the Markham Vale project has been based upon detailed strategic landscape planning. The overall aim of the Design Code / Framework is to ensure the development of MEGZ does not have an unacceptable adverse impact on local communities and sites of historic and environmental importance, whilst creating an attractive and functional business park. Urban design is equally applicable to rural environment and the Design Code / Framework seeks to provide a ‘design code’ for the development that:
- Relates to the geographical and topographical attributes of the area;
- Reflects and appreciates the sensitivity of the receiving environment, including visual amenity, landscape character and cultural heritage;
- Responds to the scale and massing of the neighbouring buildings and the wider pattern of development; and
- Promotes high quality building materials, techniques and finishes appropriate to a modern business park and the local context.
Specifically it will create certainty for the local planning authorities, clearly establishing the parameters in which development can occur and ensuring any adverse impacts are minimised. The Design Code/ Framework is also an important tool for establishing and delivering a coherent strategy of regeneration, providing local employment and improving the living and working environment of the local community.
