Peter Massie
National Director of Development – Residential Sector Lead
As a master developer and regeneration specialist, we unlock the potential of land.
Harworth’s roots are in the redevelopment of post-industrial sites. Many of the new communities we have created are on land where collieries and power stations once stood.
Our ability to deliver impactful regeneration was founded in this. Today, we are transforming sites of all types in strategic locations to provide employment spaces, create much-needed housing and generate economic growth across the regions.
We invest for the long-term in unlocking land and realising its best use – whether that is as the location of a hyperscale data centre, an advanced manufacturing hub or a residential community with a vibrant local high street.
Regeneration is essential to secure a long-term supply of employment space and housing.
There is an acute need to deliver more industrial and logistics space to support the growth of key UK industries such as advanced manufacturing, defence and life sciences alongside homes and supporting infrastructure.
To do this, we must identify land for large-scale development and this should be in strategic, well-connected locations.
There is not an abundance of ready-to-develop land like this available. Much of it will require significant regeneration and transformation, which requires sustained investment.
This includes investment in transport infrastructure and importantly in power. Access to power has created general uncertainty as to when developments can be brought forward, making it difficult for developers to capitalise on positive market interest where connection requests have often been stuck awaiting connection in a slow-moving queue. Recent reforms by NESO to prioritise projects that have shown their readiness and pragmatic approached by DNOs have provided green shoots and more momentum is welcome to further unlock development.
As a leading land and property regeneration business, we are familiar with the challenges in unlocking land to deliver successful regeneration. But overcoming these barriers and putting the right building blocks in place is worthwhile.
Our flagship development, Waverley and the Advanced Manufacturing Park, is evidence of what can happen when the public and private sector work well together.
On the site of the former Orgreave Colliery in South Yorkshire, we have created Waverley – a new community offering a world-class innovation hub, over 1,900 homes, a primary school, a local high street and more green space than any other mixed-use development in Yorkshire.
Following over a decade of remediation of contaminated land, construction started in 2011. Getting to where we are today has depended on us working closely with partners including Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, the University of Sheffield and South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority.
In doing so, we have created a new community, inspired new ideas and enhanced opportunities for the region. The Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) is home to occupiers from McLaren to Rolls Royce and is in part credited for South Yorkshire’s economic growth in recent years.
Public-private partnership is extremely important in regeneration. It’s essential to have a shared vision, and a degree of shared risk and shared investment.
This shared investment and shared vision has brought investment from a rich tapestry of global businesses and SMEs to our developments.
Previous attempts by the industry to develop brownfield land at Skelton Grange – which included a proposed new stadium for Leeds United – were stalled due to challenging topography and access. Only 4 miles from the city centre, the site is strategically important for Leeds and West Yorkshire.
Through significant investment from Harworth and collaboration with West Yorkshire Combined Authority, we transformed the land and last year sold a parcel to Microsoft which will be building northern England’s largest hyperscale data centre on the site.
This investment will influence the regional economy for years to come, providing job opportunities in a global sector and improving digital connectivity within the region.
35 miles down the road is Olive Lane, a local high street created by Harworth to serve the growing community at Waverley. 70 per cent of the businesses based on the street are local, including a nursery, vets, bar and restaurant.
Alongside the street’s bricks-and-mortar offering, ‘pop up’ independent food vendors trade on Olive Lane. Our developments bring global investment to regions and create opportunities for local businesses to flourish and grow.
Through unlocking land in strategic locations like this and delivering employment spaces hand-in-hand with the public sector, we can support a range of enterprise, including those identified in the government’s Industrial Strategy.
Regeneration delivers significant social benefits – it’s important to set out the vision from the outset.
Asking questions like “who will live here?” and “what amenities are most needed for that community?” are essential before spades go into the ground on any regeneration project.
Ensuring development brings benefits for both new and existing neighbouring communities is critical. This all needs to be built into the masterplan.
To meet the needs and wants of communities across the north of England and the Midlands, Harworth has built regionally significant employment hubs and thousands of homes, as well as community centres, NHS health centres, high streets with leisure and retail, forest schools, green spaces, play parks, and university research bases.
Our industrial and logistics developments are impacting the local workforce and, in some cases, even influencing skills and education through informing college courses.
To understand how a new place should look and how it can deliver social value with real impact, early and wide-reaching conversation is essential. This allows a rich understanding of an area, its communities and the bespoke social infrastructure needed to improve opportunities and outcome.
A shared vision is needed but to deliver impactful regeneration, long-term public funding is also essential…
In St. Helen’s, £2 million of Brownfield Land funding from Liverpool City Region supported our delivery of a brand new community at Moss Nook. This enabled us to start turning long derelict land into a 900-home brand new community.
However, funding like this has historically been piecemeal and often heavily centralised – this £2 million came from the £68 million Brownfield Land Release Fund which was controlled and distributed by central government.
As devolution continues and mayoral combined authorities receive more powers, we are optimistic that decisions about where and how public funds like this are invested will be made more locally.
Local and combined authorities think holistically and know what critical strategic infrastructure will most benefit their communities and it’s important to empower these authorities to do so.
Regeneration is a balancing act – we need to create new places while acknowledging a site’s history.
It’s important that in delivering regeneration we understand the history of a place and consider how best to build on that and create a new community for the future.
At our development located on the former Thoresby Colliery in Nottinghamshire, we have celebrated the site’s legacy, sensitively integrating elements of the former colliery into community spaces and assets.
We’re building employment spaces, new homes, a village centre, new forest school, and extensive areas of parkland and green infrastructure.
We wanted to build on the sense of community that existed when the colliery was operational, and the expansive and wildlife-filled Thoresby Vale Country Park which opened in 2024 is now a place where events are held and residents come together.
We need policy alignment to truly support regeneration.
Regeneration can benefit rather than take from the natural environment, including through the creation of new green spaces like at Thoresby Vale.
While enhancing biodiversity is essential, delivering a 10 per cent mandatory net gain (BNG) can be challenging for some brownfield regeneration projects.
Greenfield or greenbelt land is often heavily worked agricultural land – offering little biodiversity. Brownfield, however, has often laid untouched for prolonged periods, resulting in increases to biodiversity.
Delivering BNG off-site can be a significant additional expense alongside costly remediation land works, impacting viability and the deliverability of a site.
If BNG targets could account for significant social and wider environmental value delivered by brownfield regeneration, it is likely the redevelopment of these complex sites would accelerate.
It’s promising to see regeneration playing a role in the new towns agenda.
Near to our office in Leeds is South Bank – one of 12 locations recommended to brought forward as a new town by the New Towns Taskforce.
It is arguably not a ‘new town’ in the traditional sense due to its location at the edge of the city centre. However, if it goes ahead, the redevelopment of South Bank will see a huge swathe of unused and unloved land regenerated and turned into a thriving community on the edge of one of England’s most diverse and rapidly growing economies.
Transforming this land will be complex and costly, but it is excellent to see a scheme like this included in this notable report. In the context of the new towns agenda and a focus on building at scale and pace, regeneration should not be overlooked.