Welcome to the Community Liaison Service webpage for our Forest Edge development in Ashgate, just on the outskirts of the popular market town of Chesterfield.
The Community Liaison Service for Forest Edge aims to keep local residents informed of the works taking place as the development starts to take shape. It also provides a dedicated point of contact to ask questions or raise concerns about the construction work.
If you have any questions or would like to raise any concerns with us, please contact us on:
About Forest Edge
Forest Edge is a stunning new community of 301 homes in Chesterfield, ranging from 3 to 5-bedrooms. The site was allocated as a preferred location for new housing in the council’s Local Plan, and planning permission was granted in July 2023, helping to meet local housing needs.
Supported by a range of buying schemes, these homes are ideal for first-time buyers, growing families and down-sizers. Additionally, 25% of the properties will be ‘affordable homes’, to support people whose needs are not met by the private market.
The Forest Gate development is also contributing nearly £600,000 towards local infrastructure and leisure facilities, including £360,000 to create and manage habitat improvements for wildlife on council-controlled land nearby and £145,000 towards local healthcare. A further £70,000 will go towards new cycle and pedestrian routes, and £24,000 towards bus stops..
Build Update
We are pleased that the first phase of roads and sewers has now been completed, meaning that all necessary infrastructure has been put in place. This includes site entrances and construction roads, parking areas, a central site office and compound. It also means that areas for wheel-washing, road monitoring and road sweeping have been established.
All of this will help to keep construction vehicles away from the roads and minimise disruption to local people as we start to build the new homes.
We are now starting to build our first phase of new homes, along with the creation of new sustainable drainage ponds, and our Sales Centre has opened. This means that you will soon start to see the new homes taking shape, and our Show Home will be among these.
Now that we have entered the main building phase, we will be aiming to build around circa 40 to 50 homes each year.
Will I be affected by the construction work?
There is no doubting the need for new homes – both nationally and locally – but we do also appreciate that building houses can cause some disruption to local people through construction noise and traffic.
We are committed to keeping such disruption to a minimum and will work closely with Chesterfield Borough Council’s planning officers throughout our construction.
Now that the infrastructure works have been completed, we hope that local people will see much less disruption.
What times will work take place on site?
The working hours approved by Chesterfield Borough Council are:
Please note that our construction teams often arrive shortly before these times but are aware of the site working hours.
No work will be carried out on Sundays or Public Holidays without prior agreement with the council’s planning team.
What are you doing to keep roads clean and clear around the site?
All our workers and contractors are asked to follow our Construction Environmental Management Plan to minimise disruption to local people. This plan has been approved by Chesterfield Borough Council.
This includes guidance parking within the site, and not on surrounding roads, and following main roads wherever possible.
We also have wheel-washing facilities, regular road monitoring and road sweeping in place to minimise mud on the roads.
What are you doing to keep noise to a minimum?
We do our best to keep disruption to a minimum, though our construction work will unavoidably cause some noise.
If at any point you feel that the noise is on-going outside of our standard working hours, please get in touch with us.
We will also update this webpage if any significant construction work is due to take place.
In dry months, how will you minimise the impact of dust?
Our site team regularly monitor the ground conditions, and where construction site infrastructure cannot be used, we use a water bowser to dampen the ground. This helps to minimise dust during drier months.
How will the development help to minimise the risk of flooding?
As part of the planning and technical design process, we have undertaken detailed assessments of flood risk and consulted with the Lead Local Flood Authority.
Our development has an approved surface water drainage strategy in place, and you will see some sustainable drainage features (e.g. the new ponds) being created at the moment.
Without this strategy being approved by the relevant authorities, we would not have been granted planning permission.
Who will maintain the trees and green spaces that were previously managed by the council?
We are aware that some residents are concerned about the ongoing maintenance of trees, particularly those that overhang the boundary of the site. These trees were previously maintained by the council when the land was under their ownership.
We are committed to protecting and maintaining them during the construction phase and a member of our site team is assessing this. Some of the trees have ‘Tree Protection Orders’ in place, which means we have needed to apply for permission from the council before we can complete maintenance work on them. This is now being resolved and our team will be in touch with individuals to keep them updated. If you have any concerns or questions, please do contact us.
As the development takes shape, the maintenance of trees and green spaces will be phased over to a management company to complete in years to come. This will be funded by residents of the new development.
How do I ask questions or raise a concern?
If you have any questions or would like to raise any concerns with us, please contact us on:
I am interested in buying one of the homes – who should I contact?
This is great news! Please visit Forest Edge | New homes in Chesterfield | Tilia Homes where you can find more details, contact our Sales Office, and arrange a viewing.
This Community Liaison Service is handled by Athene Communications on our behalf, and we are required to inform you that, should you contact the service, your data (name and contact information, if provided) will be stored for the purpose of responding to your query. Athene will respond directly to you, and where appropriate, liaise with members of our site team to investigate matters on site.
