Grimsby West
About this page
Welcome to our dedicated web page for the Grimsby West project.
This is not a Council led project. However, as we are receiving a lot of questions around this proposed development, we have created this page to give you information about the planning process and provide context and background about the proposals.
Consultation and Engagement
PLEASE NOTE: There is no live consultation open at this time. Any comments received at this time will not be taken into consideration for the Local Plan review or any future planning applications. When consultation is open, we will highlight on this page as well as advertising in the usual manner.
Frequently asked questions
What is Grimsby West?
Grimsby West is a strategic development site which has been allocated in North East Lincolnshire Council’s current Local Plan.
The landowners are proposing a new community with around 3,500 homes, built by private housing developers, set around a new country park. Residents will have access to a new primary / secondary school and local centres and other areas of extensive open space.
Visit the developer website: Grimsby West: A New Settlement
Where is Grimsby West?
The site stretches from the A46 to the west of Morrisons, through to the A1136 west of Wybers Wood.
When was this established?
The proposals were first put forward as part of the Council’s call for sites which is an integral part of the preparation works for the Local Plan. The Local Plan was formally adopted in 2018.
Why this location?
Much of North East Lincolnshire’s business and industrial growth is planned to occur on the South Humber Bank with the development of new and expansion of existing facilities/premises. Grimsby West is well located to provide employees with convenient and sustainable access to their places of work.
Were alternative sites considered for the current Local Plan?
As part of the Local Plan process, the Council was required to consider options for where and how growth might best be located. The inclusion of large-scale strategic sites is an important part of the Council’s housing allocation mix. These sites reduce the development pressure on other land between villages and other suburban areas, where it is important to retain a sense of separation and avoid settlements merging into one another. Their scale means infrastructure and local facilities needed to sustain mixed communities can be delivered comprehensively.
A range of sites were assessed as part of the allocation process and that work is evidenced in the Site Selection Reports and the Sustainability Appraisal prepared for the Local Plan. Scartho Top (which is under construction) and land to the west of Humberston Road in Grimsby are also allocated as strategic sites for large-scale new communities.
What is the importance of the Local Plan?
The Local Plan sets out the Council’s vision and strategy for development, including why, where, and how the use of land across the borough will change. The plan is ambitious and prepares for significant growth, setting out how North East Lincolnshire can become a sustainable location in which people live, work and enjoy recreation – both now and in the future.
What consultation took place?
The Local Plan was consulted on extensively from 2012 through each stage of its development, leading to Full Council adoption of the Plan in 2018. Activities and events were well-publicised as part of a consultation campaign which included online forums, meetings with stakeholders and statutory bodies, along with various public events.
What is the status of the Local Plan, and why does it exist?
Each council is required by law to produce a Development Plan. The North East Lincolnshire Local Plan (the Development Plan) was adopted by the Council, with support across all political parties at the time of its adoption, in 2018. It was the culmination of five years’ work, including several public consultations and over a year of public examination led by an independent planning inspector.
The Local Plan provides the statutory framework for planning decisions in the borough. Planning law requires planning applications to be determined in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise.
The Local Plan is constantly being updated. Once it has been adopted, work starts on the next version of it. This is to make sure that information in the Plan (for example, numbers of houses needed) is current.
Can I still object to the allocation of Grimsby West?
The Local Plan was adopted in 2018, and the allocation of the Grimsby West site means the principle of it being developed has been agreed. There is no opportunity to challenge the existing Local Plan now as that timeframe has passed. However a new Local Plan is under development.
Why has the Council not taken Grimsby West out of the Local Plan?
Updating or revising the Local Plan must follow a particular process and meet specific legal requirements. Amongst other things, the plan must demonstrate how the housing need for the Borough will be met.
National planning policy prescribes how local authorities calculate the number of new homes that plans must accommodate. For North East Lincolnshire that means there must be enough land available to deliver around 11,500 homes between 2025-2043.
Grimsby West is an important part of the Borough’s housing land supply, with a significant proportion of the total number of homes needed in the Borough capable of being developed here.
Removing the site would require alternative land to be allocated that supports the same number of homes otherwise the plan would fall short of the land needed for housing. In that position we would not be able to progress the Plan’s review in the timeframe expected, and that would prolong the current position in the Borough which encourages development to come forward in unpreferable locations.
The new Local Plan began development from 2019.
The first stage of public consultation on the revised plan is the “Scoping and Issues” paper. This was consulted on in 2022, and the results of this are available at Keystone Stakeholder Engagement.
Further consultation on the draft Local Plan happened in 2024 (Jan to Mar). We were due to submit a revised LP in summer 2025 and were on track to complete within that timescale, with no delay. This was in accordance with Government imposed deadlines set in national policy at that time.
Changes to national planning policy (introduced by Government in December 2024) had the effect of significantly increasing the amount of housing that the local plan must support. The Council has therefore had to gather new and updated evidence to inform the changes it proposes to make to the Local Plan.
As a result, a new Local Development Scheme, which outlines the new timetable was prepared as was approved at Cabinet in March 2025. Read more at North East Lincolnshire Council Development Scheme (PDF, 1MB) .
This set out the new timetable for preparation of the Local Plan, which is now due to be submitted for examination in December 2026. This aligns with the revised deadline set by Government and we do not expect there to be any delay.
Further consultation on the revised Local Plan is due to start later in the 2025.
PLEASE NOTE: There is no live consultation open at this time. Any comments received at this time will not be taken into consideration for the Local Plan review or any future planning applications. When consultation is open, we will highlight on this page as well as advertising in the usual manner.
Site consultation
The whole Grimsby West site is in private ownership, and the landowners (MF Strawson Ltd and Harworth Group) have funded and commissioned consultants to produce a Masterplan which sets out the framework for the site’s future development.
During 2025, the landowners undertook a consultation exercise to draw up a Masterplan for the site. Note: this is the developer’s document for the site, not a document owned by the Council.
Visit the developer website: Grimsby West: A New Settlement
How can I feed in my views?
In regard to the Grimsby West Masterplan, this is the developer’s document and they have undertaken consultation on it. This is detailed in the Statement of Community Involvement which is appended to the draft Masterplan. This element of consultation is currently closed.
If, or when, a formal Planning Application is submitted for the Grimsby West development we will follow statutory duties with regard to consultation and all documents will be made available on the planning portal. Any comments received through the planning portal at that stage will then feed into the decision making process for the planning application.
How do I know if my views have been taken into account?
In terms of responses to the Local Plan consultation held in 2024, we have been working through all the comments received, whether through the Local Plan consultation website, or submitted by email or letter.
The preparation of a Local Plan is a statutory process and guided by national legislation and as such we are unable to accept anonymous responses.
All the responses received that meet those requirements have been added to the Local Plan consultation portal. We are currently carrying out final checks to ensure no personal contact details are published.
These responses will be considered and feed into the next stage of the Local Plan preparation. This will include a summary of those comments and how they and other evidence base documents we must take into consideration have informed the next version of the Local Plan document.
At this early stage of the Local Plan preparation, comments that were received through routes other than those stated at the time of the consultation, including anonymous comments, surveys, petitions, and those that do not meet the statutory requirements, or are not GDPR compliant will be summarised and considered but cannot be formally registered.
I took part in a survey. Will my views be taken into account?
During our Local Plan consultation, an independent survey was carried also out. We received a copy of the responses to this survey into the planning team during the time the consultation was open for the update of our Local Plan in 2024. This survey contained the following questions:
- Do you believe NEL is on the cusp of a huge regeneration?
- Do you believe this will lead to a huge increase in people living here?
- Do you believe our pay is going to rise so we can afford more out‐of‐town
housing? - Do you think that we need more development in our area to cater for demand?
- Is there a development you would like to see removed from the Local Plan? If so
please state it.
Unfortunately, we are not aware if this survey, carried out independently, requested explicitly permission that names and addresses could be passed to a third party (the Council in this case) for publication as part of the Local Plan process. For us to publish these comments directly would therefore be in breach of GDPR, and that has extremely serious consequences. Due to the statutory nature of the Local Plan process we cannot accept and therefore publish anonymous comments.
We are aware that a considerable number of people who responded to the independent survey also contributed separately either by email or directly to the local plan consultation portal, these comments and how they have influenced the policies will be set out in next round of the Local Plan process. Comments received through the independent survey, whilst not formally registered for reasons set out above have been summarised, this summary and how we have taken them into consideration will also be set out in the next round of consultation on the Local Plan.
Who would be consulted during any planning application?
Consultation will take place with members of the public as well as statutory bodies such as Highways England, Natural England and Historic England. Local stakeholders will be closely engaged, including nearby businesses and residents.
What is the Masterplan?
Planning policy within the Local Plan requires a Masterplan for the Grimsby West site to be prepared and agreed with the Council before planning applications for development on the site can be determined.
The Masterplan will set out the framework for the site’s development. It will consider the whole of the site, and will identify all the necessary infrastructure requirements to support a sustainable new community. It builds on the technical work undertaken by the landowners during the preparation of the Local Plan and the preliminary masterplan concept developed at that time. It also responds to more recent survey and investigative work. It is not a planning application, however, it will inform the detailed design of schemes on the site and all planning applications will be assessed for their compliance with the Masterplan.
The Masterplan will not provide detailed designs of each new street or each new home. Rather, it will set out a range of key principles and map out the approach to matters such as:
- Land use (broadly, where the new homes, new school, new facilities will be located);
- Sustainable movement (how will people be able to move through the site by means other than the car);
- Placemaking (how should buildings, streets and open spaces look, feel and function at different parts of the site)
- Sustainability and energy use;
- Heritage;
- Ecology;
- Public Rights of Way
- Health and wellbeing; and,
- Green and blue infrastructure (for example: the location of the country park and other green spaces, how net gain in biodiversity will be achieved, and how surface water be managed on the site).
The list above is not exhaustive, and the masterplan will cover several other aspects related to infrastructure and phasing of the development.
Who is responsible for producing the Masterplan?
The landowners have commissioned master planning consultants to produce a draft masterplan.
The Council’s role in this master planning process is to make sure that proposals are compliant with planning policy and that they deliver the objectives and requirements specified in the Local Plan.
Once finalised, the draft masterplan will be taken through the Council’s democratic process for its approval and adoption.
What happens once the Masterplan is adopted?
Once the Masterplan is finalised and is adopted by the Council, it will form a material consideration in any future planning application on the site.
How does a Masterplan affect the planning application?
The Masterplan forms a “material consideration” for any planning application within the site boundary.
Planning applications will consider the finer detail of proposals, and some will be supported by additional technical information related to matters such as drainage, transport, and ecology. In some cases, an application will require an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
As part of any planning application that may be submitted, the development will have to comply with the Biodiversity Net Gain legislation that requires developments to provide a 10% net gain of biodiversity following development. This is based on the existing biodiversity value of the site.
All documents submitted with the application will be available to view and consultation will take place in accordance with statutory requirements for planning applications. All written comments will be duly considered as part of the decision-making process.
What information will be on the Council’s planning portal?
The planning portal will host a range of information for the planning applications which will be submitted for both the highways and housing proposals. This will include environmental information such as ecology, air quality, archaeology, transportation, drainage and construction, among others. It will host all statutory consultation responses, and any online objections.
Where can I find further information about plans?
At the moment, a wealth of information regarding the need for growth and proposed locations are available online on the Council’s Local Plan pages.
You can find out more about the proposed development at Grimsby West on the developer’s website.
The Council has been receiving more general comments and enquiries about areas of interest across North East Lincolnshire. The following links may be useful.
Ecology: Tree planting | NELC
Planning portal: Planning Portal | NELC