Finish The Colleys Add a photo
Barrowby Road, Grantham · NG31

The Colleys is still not finished.

300 homes were approved here in 2016. Families have lived here since 2020. The play areas, finished roads, working street lights and green spaces we were promised are still missing, and the deadlines keep passing. This page tracks every one.

Add a photo of the estate See the deadlines Share this
 
--days
 

 

 

300homes approved (S14/3571, July 2016)
~273homes occupied today
27homes still not built. Residents report building has stopped (Oct 2026)
0promised dates missed so far
The estate today, from the people who live here

Photos from residents

Every photo here was taken and added by a Colleys resident, and checked before it is published. Newest first. Location data is stripped from every photo.

Please note: each photo shows what a resident found on the day it was taken or added. The issue it shows may have been put right since. Fixed something? Tell us and we will mark it fixed.

Add your photos

Where the problems are

Photos residents have pinned to the spot. Add your own pin when you upload.

Pin a photo
Stand up and be counted
0
households on The Colleys have put their name to this
Out of about 273 occupied homes. One per household, checked against your address.
Your address will not be published. It is only used to check you live here and to count each household once. Only the total and street totals are shown.
The promise tracker

What they said, and when.

Every date below comes from a planning condition, a council document, or Vistry and Countryside's own words. The clocks run live.

--days of missed deadlines, added up across every promise on this page. And still counting.

No date given at all

These are outstanding, and nobody has committed to a finish date.

  • Final road surfacingBinder and surface course still outstanding. Vistry says "in line with the overall build programme", but residents report building has stopped.Source: LCC Highways via Cllr Davies, 7 Nov 2025; Vistry via Parish Clerk, 24 Aug 2026
  • Footways, kerbs and dropped kerbsUpstands far above normal limits, kerb stones missing. A hazard for wheelchairs, prams and mobility scooters.Source: LCC Highways, 7 Nov 2025; residents’ meeting minutes, 23 Oct 2026
  • Street lightingTesting done in October 2026, results to go to the planning officer. No repair date.Source: SKDC Planning update, 23 Oct 2026; Vistry via Parish Clerk, 24 Aug 2026
  • Footpath link at the bottom of Blissett DrivePlanned path across the field never built, so people cut through gardens.Source: approved Footpath & Cycle Routes plan BRG-FCL-01-1 (S19/1056); residents’ meeting, 23 Oct 2026
  • Road adoption by Lincolnshire County Council"Some way off adoption". The council holds a bond for the full cost.Source: LCC Highways via Cllr Davies, 7 Nov 2025
  • The last 27 homesMaterials removed from site, workers leaving, sales office still open five days a week.Source: residents’ meeting minutes, 23 Oct 2026
The powers that exist

What the councils could do.

The councils have legal powers to make a developer keep its promises. Here is each one, what it would achieve, and whether it is known to have been used at The Colleys. If any of this is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.

--days since residents wrote to South Kesteven District Council's Planning Enforcement (24 October 2025) asking for breach and completion notices, a Section 215 notice and the road bond to be called in.Source: residents' letter to SKDC Planning Enforcement and Cllr Richard Davies, 24 Oct 2025; acknowledged by SKDC 27 Oct 2025.
SKDCNot known to have been used

Breach of Condition Notice

Section 187A, Town and Country Planning Act 1990

Requires the developer to comply with a planning condition, here condition 2 (play areas before the 200th home) and condition 6 (landscaping). There is no right of appeal, and failing to comply is a criminal offence.

Where it stands: SKDC's written update read to residents on 23 Oct 2026 said the play area requirement has not been complied with and that it will pursue this with the developer. Residents are not aware of a notice being served.

SKDCNot known to have been used

Enforcement of the Section 106 agreement

Section 106(5) and (6), Town and Country Planning Act 1990

The council can go to court for an injunction to make the developer do what the agreement requires, or enter the land, carry out the work itself and recover the cost from the developer. The agreement includes the "Green Areas" obligations.

Where it stands: Vistry's Green Areas details were approved on 27 Nov 2025 (S25/2130). Residents are not aware of any enforcement action under the agreement.

SKDCNot known to have been used

Enforcement Notice

Section 172, Town and Country Planning Act 1990

A formal notice setting out what must be done to remedy a breach of planning control, and by when. It can be appealed, but non-compliance after it takes effect is an offence.

Where it stands: No notice known.

SKDCAsked for Oct 2025, no notice known

Section 215 notice (untidy land)

Section 215, Town and Country Planning Act 1990

Requires the owner to clean up land whose condition harms the amenity of the area: rubble, abandoned materials, overgrown unfinished open space.

Where it stands: Residents asked for one in October 2025. No notice known.

Lincolnshire CCBond held, not called

Calling in the road bond

Section 38 agreement, Highways Act 1980

The County Council holds a bond for the full cost of finishing the estate roads. If the developer does not finish them, the council can call in the bond and complete the roads to an adoptable standard itself.

Where it stands: In November 2025 the County Council said it holds the bond but prefers the developer to finish the works. Street lighting, surfacing and footways remain outstanding.

SKDCNot known to have been used

Completion notice

Section 94, Town and Country Planning Act 1990

Sets a deadline after which the planning permission stops covering unfinished work. It needs Secretary of State confirmation and does not force the work to be done, so it is a pressure tool more than a fix.

Where it stands: Residents asked for completion notices in October 2025. No notice known.

HSEResidents can report

Construction site safety

Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974; Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015

The Health and Safety Executive can inspect a construction site and require hazards to be made safe. Residents report open construction areas where children play.

Where it stands: Anyone can report a concern at hse.gov.uk.

Ask them which powers they will use, and when

A short, polite letter asking SKDC and your councillor to say which of these powers they will use on The Colleys and on what timetable. Copy it, then paste it into the council's form or send it to Cllr Leadenham.

SKDC enforcement form Email Cllr Leadenham

This is general information about the law, not legal advice. Whether and how a council uses a power is for the council to decide. We would welcome an update from either council and will publish it here.

Every Monday until it's finished

Our weekly letter to Vistry.

Every Monday at 9am Vistry is emailed what is still overdue, every new photo residents have added, and where it is. We tell them their reply will be published here in full, with names and contact details removed. Until they reply, the clock runs.

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Waiting for Vistry's reply 
Two minutes, five letters

Send your complaint.

The council does not act on anonymous complaints, and one email is easy to ignore. A hundred named, dated letters quoting the same planning conditions are not. Fill this in once and each letter opens in your own email, ready to send.

Nothing you type here is published. Send the letters from your own email, or let us send them for you in your name. If we send them, your details are used only for that and deleted once they have gone.
Residents only

Add your photos

Potholes, broken kerbs, dark street lights, the unfinished play areas, rubble, weeds: if it should have been finished, photograph it. The more photos, the harder it is to ignore.

Your address will not be published. To keep this to residents we ask for your house number and street, purely to check you live here. Your house number is never shown on this site and is never shared. Only your street name appears with your photo.

Your address will not be published. We only ask for it to check you live on The Colleys. Only your street name appears with your photo.
No pin yet. Tap the spot on the map, or skip this.
The facts

What was promised. What we have.

2016Outline permission for up to 300 homes, open space and landscaping (S14/3571, 27 July 2016).
ÂŁ2.1mSection 106 package Countryside announced in January 2020, including ÂŁ20,000 for a bus shelter and ÂŁ60,000 for highways. There is still no bus route.
~105homes thought to be shared ownership through EMH. Those residents get passed between Vistry and EMH.
2equipped play areas required by the planning conditions. Neither was finished when residents met on 23 October 2026; residents reported works had stopped and turf had died.
1way in and out for around 300 homes and roughly 600 cars, onto the A52 dual carriageway.
ÂŁResidents pay an annual management fee to Trustgreen for open space that is unfinished and overgrown.

What's being sold

"Set against stunning open countryside"Countryside Homes, The Colleys sales page, 1 Nov 2026. 3 and 4 bed homes from ÂŁ320,000.
"Open Spaces, public footpaths and play areas (LAP and LEAP). Landscaped attenuation ponds."Vistry's own Summer 2026 newsletter to residents, "When completed this development will include"
"All areas of public open space (POS) areas and play areas will be completed mid-June 2026."Same newsletter

What residents report

  • Road surfaces worn through to bare stone, and trenches cut across new roads on Blissett Drive and never properly filled.
  • Raised manhole covers and ironwork, missing kerb stones, upstands well above normal limits.
  • Street lights that don't work, so whole stretches are dark at night.
  • Play areas left half-built, with dead or pulled-up turf.
  • Open construction areas where children play, and weeds through the road.
  • Nails and debris on the roads, and repeated punctures.
RequirementWhat it saysWhere it comes from
Play areasFinal details of the equipped play areas must be approved before building above damp-proof course, and the play areas built to those details "before occupation of the 200th dwelling".Condition 2, reserved matters approval S19/1056, SKDC, 21 Nov 2019. Details approved 30 Mar 2020 (S20/0007).
LandscapingSoft landscaping for each phase must be done "before the end of the first planting/seeding season following the first occupation" of that phase.Condition 6, S19/1056.
Dead trees and plantsAny that die or are seriously damaged within five years of the last home being occupied must be replaced in the next planting season.Condition 7, S19/1056. The avenue on Queen Eleanor Avenue was planted with the wrong species.
Green areasSchedule 1, Section 3 "Green Areas" of the Section 106 agreement. Vistry submitted details, approved 27 Nov 2025.S106 to S14/3571; S25/2130.
Estate roadsBuilt to adoptable standard under a signed Section 38 agreement. LCC holds a bond for the full cost of completion.Lincolnshire County Council Highways via Cllr Richard Davies, 7 Nov 2025.
Footpath and cycle linksFootpath and cycle routes shown on the approved plan BRG-FCL-01-1.Condition 1, S19/1056 (approved plans).
Read it yourself

The planning documents

Every planning application for The Colleys, with links to the council's own files. The SKDC portal can be slow and may ask you to confirm you're human first.

Latest from the planning register

Checked automatically every morning.

Key documents

This is every planning application on the Colleys site, from the 2014 scoping request to today, checked against the council's records on 1 November 2026. Vistry's Rectory Farm development across Barrowby Road is listed separately.

Vistry is building next door

Vistry's Rectory Farm development is across Barrowby Road. When Vistry applies for anything there, residents can comment. Councillors take a developer's record on its last site into account. Comment on the planning merits, keep to facts, and mention The Colleys. This list is checked against the council’s register every morning, so new applications appear here automatically. Where one is still open, the button takes you to the council’s comment page.

How we got here

From the first application to today.

Nearly twelve years since the plans went in. Red marks a deadline that was missed.

  1. Outline application submitted for up to 300 homes, open space and landscaping on land south of Barrowby Road (S14/3571).

  2. Outline permission granted by South Kesteven District Council, with a Section 106 agreement.

  3. Countryside's detailed plans approved (S19/1056) after planning committee on 13 Nov. Condition 2: play areas built before the 200th home is occupied.

  4. Work starts. Countryside announces a ÂŁ2.1m package for schools, the NHS, a bus shelter and highways.

  5. Play area designs approved by SKDC (S20/0007), along with boundary treatments.

  6. Drainage, levels, ecology and tree protection details approved (S19/1786). The adoptable highway is extended outside plots 54 to 72 (S20/0717).

  7. First homes get their postcode (NG31 8PT, Queen Eleanor Avenue). Residents start moving in.

  8. Section 106 agreement varied at the developer's request (S20/0494).

  9. More streets open (new postcodes from February 2021). Road design and the landscape management plan are signed off (S21/0025, 18 Mar 2021).

  10. Landscaping deadline passes for homes occupied in 2021 (condition 6: by the end of the first planting season after occupation).

  11. Vistry Group completes its takeover of Countryside. The estate is still marketed as Countryside Homes.

  12. 143 homes complete. The developer tells SKDC "Onsite infrastructure completed" and that the junction works are "programmed for second half of 2023".

  13. Junction deadline passes. The Barrowby Road works are not finished until late 2025.

  14. Residents report roads eroding outside their homes. Vistry customer services reply that it has been "passed over to the site team".

  15. About 215 homes complete. The 200th home trigger for the play areas has passed, with no play areas. SKDC's housing statement records "No recent response from Developer".

  16. Residents write to SKDC Planning Enforcement and the County Council asking for breach and completion notices, a Section 215 tidy-up notice and the road bond to be called in.

  17. County Highways confirm street lighting, landscaping, road surfacing and footways are all outstanding. The site is "some way off adoption". The Barrowby Road junction is practically complete, two years late.

  18. SKDC approves Vistry's "Green Areas" details under the Section 106 agreement (S25/2130). Nearly a year later the green areas are still unfinished.

  19. Developer's own finish date passes. Its programme to SKDC ended in the 2025/26 year. 27 homes are still unbuilt.

  20. Vistry tells the Parish Council work on both play areas, the open space footpaths and the open space will start in about three weeks.

  21. Vistry newsletter promises all open space and play areas "completed mid-June 2026".

  22. Vistry tells the Parish Council both play areas are scheduled for September. A lighting consultant has been appointed.

  23. Residents meet and form the Colleys Residents Group. SKDC's written planning update, read to the meeting, says the play area requirement has not been complied with and SKDC will pursue it with the developer.

Get the documents they haven't shown us

Information requests.

Under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, councils must reply within 20 working days. These requests ask for the Section 106 deed, the road bond, the enforcement file and the correspondence with Vistry. One resident sending each is enough; more do no harm.

Who is responsible

Who does what.

Vistry Group

The developer. Bought Countryside in 2022, still sells The Colleys under the Countryside Homes name. Responsible for the roads, footways, street lighting, play areas and open space until they are adopted.

Vistry North Midlands customer services: Customerservice.northmidlands@vistry.co.uk, 0116 464 8913.

South Kesteven District Council

The planning authority. It granted permission and enforces the planning conditions and the Section 106 agreement, including the play areas and landscaping.

Lincolnshire County Council

The highway authority. Holds the Section 38 agreement and a bond for the full cost of the roads, and adopts them once they are finished to standard.

Trustgreen

The management company Vistry appointed to maintain the public open space. Residents pay it an annual fee.

EMH

The housing association for the shared ownership homes. Shared owners should not be passed back and forth: estate issues are Vistry's.

Your councillors

Cllr Robert Leadenham (SKDC), Barrowby Parish Council, and County Cllr Richard Litchfield are supporting residents. County Cllr Richard Davies raised the roads with Highways in 2025.

From the Colleys Residents Group

Meeting notes.

Notes of residents' meetings, as circulated by the Colleys Residents Group. Residents' names are removed before they are published here; councillors are named in their public role.

Want to get involved? Join the Colleys Residents Group on Facebook.

Take action

Six things every resident can do.

01

Add your photos here

A dated photo is evidence. Add one every time something is broken, unsafe or unfinished.

Add a photo

02

Report it to SKDC Planning Enforcement

Use the council's form. Give your name and address (they don't act on anonymous reports) and quote:

S19/1056 condition 2 (play areas before the 200th home)
S19/1056 condition 6 (landscaping)
S14/3571 S106, Schedule 1 s3 Green Areas

Report a planning breach

03

Put it in writing to Vistry

Email customer services every time, keep the reply, and ask for a date. A date in writing is a date we can hold them to.

Email Vistry

04

Use the complaint schemes

Depending on when you reserved your home, the New Homes Ombudsman or the Consumer Code for Home Builders may cover you.

New Homes Ombudsman · Consumer Code

05

Join the Colleys Residents Group

The residents' group formed on 23 October 2026 speaks for the estate with the council and Vistry. One voice is harder to ignore. Join the Facebook group, and ask there for the WhatsApp group link.

The Colleys Residents on Facebook

06

Tell the press

A one-page press pack with the key facts, the planning wording, Vistry's missed dates and photos. Send it to the Grantham Journal or BBC East Midlands Today.

Open the press pack · Download the PDF

Sources
  1. SKDC reserved matters decision notice S19/1056, 21 Nov 2019, conditions 1, 2, 6 and 7. SKDC planning portal
  2. SKDC outline permission S14/3571, 27 Jul 2016, and its Section 106 agreement. SKDC planning portal
  3. SKDC Site Deliverability Information, April 2023 (developer's statements on infrastructure and the S278 programme), and SKDC Five Year Housing Land Supply Statement 2024 to 2029. SKDC
  4. Lincolnshire County Council Highways update via Cllr Richard Davies, 7 Nov 2025.
  5. Vistry updates to Barrowby Parish Council, published by the Parish Clerk, 11 May 2026 and 24 Aug 2026.
  6. Vistry North Midlands, "The Colleys Newsletter, Resident update, Summer 2026".
  7. Minutes of the Colleys residents' meeting, 23 Oct 2026, including SKDC Planning's written update read by Cllr Leadenham.
  8. Countryside Homes, The Colleys sales page, viewed 1 Nov 2026. countrysidehomes.com
  9. Grantham Nub News, 29 Jan 2020, on the ÂŁ2.1m Section 106 package.

Privacy

This site is run by a Colleys resident. When you add a photo or your household, we keep your house number, street and, if you give them, your name and email. We use them only to check you live on The Colleys, to count each household once and, if you ask, to email you updates. Your house number, name and email are never published or shared. Only your street name appears with a photo, and the location data is removed from every photo before it is published. Complaint letters are built in your own browser and are not stored. To have your details or photos removed, email hello@finishthecolleys.co.uk and they will be deleted. Full privacy notice.

Spotted something wrong or out of date? Email hello@finishthecolleys.co.uk and it will be corrected, normally within two working days. Vistry and anyone else mentioned are welcome to reply, and replies are published. See legal and privacy.