Over the last 10 years, Grimsby residents are seeing an increase in the number of new building sites spread all throughout the area. Many sections of land have been bought and redeveloped into houses, but with the population of Grimsby decreasing by just over 2000 people from 2011 to 2021, it encourages us to ask the question of do we even need more houses?

According to information provided by the census’ taken in 2011 and 2021, there has been an annual decrease of 0.24% in the number of Grimsby citizens, and an annual decrease of 0.17% in North East Lincolnshire as a whole. Despite these decreasing figures, the number of new building sites in the Grimsby area has increased with companies such as Barratt Homes, Cyden Homes and Gleeson Homes all playing a part in this increase.

One particular building site from Cyden Homes which underwent a long fight of 7 years for planning permission was The Hyde in Waltham. The site entrance is located along Brigsley Road and the homes themselves are behind houses on Chestnut Road, Elsham Drive, Brigsley Road, and Sterling Crescent. Residents of these streets fought to stop Cyden Homes from getting planning permission for the site, with committees such as Waltham Residents Action Group (WRAG) working together with the council to discuss Cyden’s plans. One of the members of the group, Chris Bowns, said ‘we fought it with lots of independent reports’ and despite the original owner of the land stating that ‘it couldn’t be built on for 20 years’ (according to Mr Bowns), Cyden Homes ‘went to a home office inspector for planning in Bristol, who approved the work’. Following this, building began in 2022 and the construction of the 199 houses remains ongoing in 2024. One of the reasons the residents disliked the idea of the new houses being built was due to the variety of wildlife that lived and explored in the field. A large number of species of birds settled in the trees, as well as deer and foxes making homes amongst the bushes.

Along with The Hyde, some other new building sites in the area include Wigmore Park, Stirling Park, Regency Meadows and Aspen Park. Of course sales are being made otherwise the building companies would not have progressed with their plans, however with issues such as the cost of living crisis and the population of Grimsby decreasing it may be time to decide whether there is the need for this many new builds.