Business Editor Paul Grinnell reports:

A PETERBOROUGH landowner is showing that development to provide thousands of jobs and homes is not only big business but can be carried out with environmental concerns at heart.

The extensive development which has created Hampton is a private sector-led idea put together by landowners O&H Hampton to make the fullest use of the disused brickfields that pockmarked the landscape to the south east of Peterborough.

Covering an area of about 2,500 acres, the vision was to create 12,000 jobs and construct more than 7,000 homes of varying types.

Planning permission was granted in 1993 and today, 10 years on, the development is still another decade from completion – an indication of the sheer scale of this ambitious venture.

The impact on Peterborough has been enormous and it could be argued the success of Hampton squashes the claims often made by the business community and residents that little development has happened in the Peterborough area.

So far, more than 2,000 homes have been built and more than two million square feet of employment space has been created along with 280,000 sq ft of retail space at Serpentine Green.

O&H Hampton's marketing manager Chris Carswell said: "Hampton delivers up to 500 units per year working with up to 10 different housebuilders on site at any one time.

"Residential development is happening at the same time within three of the four neighbourhoods – Hampton Hargate, Hampton Vale and Hampton Centre.

"It has also made a choice of employment sites available, including large stand alone sites in a business park setting, smaller sites closer to residential neighbourhoods and sites for office development within Hampton Centre.

"In addition, Hampton has become a strategic location for large scale distribution centres, including IKEA, Debenhams and Prologis."

And last year, planning consent was given for the development of another 740 acre site – Hampton Leys.

But the development is not all about jobs and homes. So far, the scheme has provided two of four planned primary schools and a secondary school. A multi-use community centre in Hampton Centre will provide healthcare, social services, day centres and leisure space under one roof.

New roads, bridges and extensive wildlife habitats – the jewel in the crown – have been created.

But this all comes at a cost, and there is a danger that too high expectations of what developers should provide in return for being allowed to build homes and industrial premises may make the whole scheme economically unviable.

O&H Hampton's general manager Roger Tallowin said Section 106 agreements – which are planning requirements imposed by the local authority and for which the developer must foot the bill – have come close to scuppering development.

He said: "There were a lot of Section 106 agreements in the early days. The huge amount of infrastructure demanded was almost crippling given the price of land at that time. It got easier as land values rose."