On a tree-lined street with large driveways, garages and mature gardens these impressive detached properties would make desirable family homes.
But for the last ten years they have been empty and boarded up with gardens overgrown behind metal fences after the families who lived there were forced to move out to make way for a £600million road widening scheme.
Only now, the project looks set to be scrapped – to the anger of those made to sell up.
National Highways spent more than £6million of taxpayer money buying the 15 large detached properties in Queensway, Derby.
Hundreds of thousands of pounds more was spent on security to keep out vandals, squatters and so-called ‘urban explorers’ who have dubbed it ‘ghost street’.
Owners were forced to sell their homes for the A38 expansion scheme, which would see roads widened and flyovers and underpasses constructed at three roundabouts to ease congestion on one of the city’s busiest routes.
But 25 years on from when the plan was first mooted the homes stand empty and, earlier this month, the Government confirmed the project is likely to be scrapped in order to pay for increased defence spending.
It means the homes, which are four, five and six bedrooms, need never have been sold in the first place. Questions remain over what will happen to them now.
National Highways spent more than £6 million of taxpayer money on the 15 large detached properties on a tree-lined street in Derby
Hundreds of thousands of pounds has also been spent on security measures, including gates
So called urban explorers have also tried to break in to see inside the empty homes
Plans for the transformation of Derby’s A38 were first mooted 25 years ago but the project has been delayed for years due to legal wranglings and protests while the homes have stood empty
John Jerram, 88, and wife Dorothy, 85, were forced to sell their home of 18 years in 2020.
‘It breaks my heart every time I go past. We had a beautiful garden and a greenhouse and everything,’ Mr Jerram said.
‘It was at a much reduced price. We got a tiny bit of compensation which paid for us to have a holiday and that was it.’
Kerry Toolan, 51, who runs her own cleaning firm, lived with her husband Peter, an electrician and children in Queensway for five years.
She said they were well compensated when they were forced to move, with National Highways paying their moving costs, solicitors fees and even stamp duty on their next home.
She said millions more was also spent on preparation work for the expansion while they were living there and that it was galling to see the money had been wasted.
‘We loved the house and we had many happy years there,’ she said. ‘I know the majority of other people there were absolutely devastated and it does all seem a ridiculous waste of time and money.
‘Think what else that money could have been used for. And now all those houses are sat there empty and we have a housing crisis.’
Gail Roberts, 67, was the last person to leave the street after spending years battling National Highways over the forced sale of her home. She said the project was a ‘criminal waste of taxpayers money’.
Mrs Roberts, who suffers with multiple sclerosis, only came to an agreement with them in 2023 after viewing 92 homes.
‘I’m appalled but not surprised. I personally didn’t think it would ever happen. But it is a criminal waste of taxpayers money not only on buying the houses but consultation after consultation – all at the expense of the taxpayer.
‘Even now people drive past and say they are lovely houses, beautiful houses.
‘I think they will just end up rotting away before some big builder comes in and obliterates them.
‘It’s been totally distressing and it is so upsetting to see the houses still there in that state.’
Gail Roberts, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, was the last person to move out of the street after and only came to an agreement with National Highways in 2023 after viewing 92 homes
Image shows the 15 properties which are now empty in Queensway, Derby next to the A38
Plans for the transformation of Derby’s A38 were first mooted 25 years ago but the project has been delayed for years due to legal wranglings and protests.
The scheme would have seen three main roundabouts upgraded to help ease traffic congestion on one of the city’s busiest roads as well as the creation of flyovers, underpasses and lane numbers increase.
But environmental campaigners argued it would also mean the destruction of nearly 12 hectares of woodland, increased carbon emissions and poorer air quality.
They successfully challenged the plans in court in 2021 only for a revised scheme to win approval.
It was finally given the go ahead in March with work due to start in 2028 only for it to be earmarked for cancellation earlier this month after the Department for Transport was told to make savings of up to £700million from its roads funding for the Defence Improvement Plan.
The Government says it will consult on reductions to the third Road Investment Strategy – including the potential cancellation of the A38 Derby Junctions and A46 Newark Bypass schemes, both of which are yet to enter contract and not as far along as other road schemes.
East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward said scrapping the A38 and A46 schemes was ‘completely unacceptable’.
She said she was not consulted before potential cutbacks were announced.
‘The trade-offs here are ones I understand. I understand that increasing investment into defence means removing it from other things.
‘I understand that everywhere will need to contribute so that we can be safe in a less certain world.
‘What I cannot understand is why the only region being asked to lose £900 million of investment into its roads is the East Midlands – that is not equitable and fails to recognise the decades of underinvestment that have preceded today’s decision.
‘The East Midlands will play its part in delivering a safer world – we have strengths in defence and will be investing into those alongside the government. But people working in defence need good roads so that their staff can get to work, access their supply chains, and trade. We will not serve our defence sector well if we under invest into its enabling infrastructure.
Nadine Peatfield, Leader of Derby City Council, said: ‘We’ve always been clear that the A38 was a national government project as is the decision to carry out further consultation. We recognise that this project remains divisive in Derby.
‘We agree that it’s time for the public to have another say. It has been 25 years since the original consultation, and there have been significant changes during that time.
‘The Government must balance the nation’s defence needs with the needs of the city that provides that defence.’
The Stop The A38 Expansion group, which has long battled against the project on environmental and economic grounds, welcomed the plan to cancel the scheme.
Clare Wood from the campaign group said: ‘It is right that this wasteful, outdated road scheme is halted as all it would do is inflict harm on local residents’ health and the environment with no justifiable benefits.’
Transport Action Network, an action group to seek ‘more sustainable’ transport modes in communities, said it was delighted there were plans to scrap the A38 and A46 projects, calling them ‘damaging’.
The Department for Transport declined to comment on what would happen to the houses. It said consultations would be carried out before any final decision is taken on the road scheme.
