Bellway is said to be building 169 homes, 127 of which will be privately sold and the rest will be used as affordable housing

UK house builder Bellway has started construction work at a new development on part of the former Newdigate Colliery site in Bedworth.

The housing estate will sit on a 28.6 acre piece of land off Astley Lane that hasn’t been used since the colliery closed in 1982.

Bellway is said to be building 169 homes, 127 of which will be privately sold and the rest will be used as affordable housing. They were given permission to build following a planning application submitted to Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council in December 2019.

The development, which will be called Astley Fields, will hold a mixture of one-bedroom flats and two, three, four-bedroom houses as well as a children’s play area.

Marie Richards, Sales Director for Bellway West Midlands2, said: With construction work now under way, we are looking forward to meeting the growing need for new housing in the local area and creating a new community on this historic site.

Astley Fields will deliver a wide variety of properties to suit people at different stages of the property ladder. To help meet the needs of local people unable to access the housing market, around a quarter of the homes at the development will be provided as affordable housing, Richards said.

We are confident that Astley Fields will become a thriving community in its own right and the regeneration of a site, disused for 40 years, will signal a new chapter in the history of Bedworth, Marie added.

Bellway will provide financial contributions of £563,000 for primary education, £400,000 for sports development, £180,000 for bus service improvements, and £140,000 towards hospitals as part of the planning agreement for the new homes.