Councillors have welcomed the upcoming potential building of more than 300 homes on a former Church Gresley clay pit which is "almost impossible to develop".

Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey wants to build 306 homes on land off Church Street.

On November 9, South Derbyshire District Council granted permission for the former clay pit, between St George's Primary School and Gresley Woods, to be remediated to make way for the housing scheme.

Cllr Trevor Southerd, deputy leader of the authority, told the meeting: "This site is difficult and almost impossible to develop.

"Others have tried and failed. It is going to have to go ahead."

An agent for the developer said it was "inevitable" that there would be some disruption caused by the construction of the scheme, but that deliveries would not be carried out at school pickup and drop-off.

He said the site would be important for the provision of housing in the district.

The construction compound would sit close to the primary school and Rockcliffe Close.

Steffan Saunders, the council's head of planning, said that the condition of the roads from Church Street to the development site would be monitored to track potential damage caused by construction vehicles.

A temporary construction access would be through a narrow lane next to St George and St Mary's Church to the west of the site.

The main route into the site would be Rockcliffe Close, but early access for large vehicles would be through the small lane leading to Church Street.

The developer says it will take an estimated 40 weeks to prepare and reprofile the site – level it out and make it fit for development – if there are good weather conditions.

Nine households have submitted objection letters opposing the plans with opposition largely focusing on the impact that construction traffic would have on the surrounding roads around the site and footpaths across it.

Once remediation is carried out, 306 homes are due to be built on the former clay pit, between St George's Primary School and Gresley Woods, with the council already granting approval for an outline scheme.

Taylor Wimpey submitted a separate reserved matters application in May which seeks to tie up the details of the overall 306-home scheme, including the designs of the proposed homes.

The detailed application says that 60 homes would be two-bed, 162 homes would be three-bed and 84 homes would be four-bed.

The cost of remediating the site is the reason why the initial developers, St Modwen Developments and Beepart Ltd, said they could not afford to build any affordable housing.

However, they did agree to contribute £1.8 million for improvements and expansion plans at the primary school and at Pingle School, along with half a million pounds for a new community facility at Gresley Football Club.

Part of the site will also be set aside for the primary school expansion.

The developer agreed to give half a million pounds to the district council to build 12 affordable homes elsewhere, instead of the 46 initially promised on the site.