Plans to build 3,000 homes along with a new village centre, leisure facilities and business park gained outline planning, despite objections raised because it is on a flood plain.

The Lincolnshire Lakes development is earmarked for land between the town and the River Trent and could eventually include around 6,000 houses.

North Lincolnshire Council’s planning committee nodded through plans yesterday by developer the Lucent Group.

The project will also see a new junction from the M181, investment in flood defences and a new £18m home for Scunthorpe United Football Club.

Design and planning work is underway to integrate a new ground with Lucent’s scheme, and a planning application is expected by the end of the year.

Included within the overall proposals are substantial flood mitigation measures worth up to £13m.

These proposals include reinforcement of the existing flood defence earth bank on the River Trent with steel piling and improvement to existing pumping station facilities at Burringham.

The development forms part of the overall Lincolnshire Lakes project, one of the largest development investment opportunities in the country.

Forecast to provide 6,000 new homes, the scheme will accelerate regeneration and inward investment opportunities in the area.

Overall the Lincolnshire Lakes project will provide local infrastructure to support the South Humber Gateway project which is a £3 billion investment over the next 10 years to create the UK’s largest deep water port.

WSP carried out environment impact and transport assessments. It also delivered highways design; drainage strategy and earthworks and hydrological modelling.