A plan to build 30 houses on the outskirts of a Derbyshire town is set for rejection due to the feared impact on a protected farmhouse.
The scheme, from Mr K Whitmore, would see the homes built off Belper Road in Ashbourne, close to the former airfield site.
Derbyshire Dales District Council’s planning officers have recommended that the scheme be rejected at a meeting on Tuesday, December 13, where a final decision will be made by councillors.
Officials feel the scheme would negatively affect an 18th-century farmhouse known as Gate Farm, on the southern side of Belper Road, and would also harm the surrounding landscape.
Ashbourne Town Council feels the development is “inappropriate” and would harm the setting of the area’s acclaimed annual Shrovetide football match.
Three objection letters have been submitted to the council by opposing residents who feel the scheme would harm their enjoyment of their own properties.
They claim motorists driving past the site often exceed the speed limit and have caused a number of accidents.
Residents feel the scheme would have an “unacceptable” impact on their homes and the landscape surrounding Ashbourne, harming the town’s appearance.
District council planners feel the site currently provides separation between the edge of Ashbourne and Sturston, while the proposed scheme could lead to the two areas “coalescing”.
They say: “The erection of up to 30 dwellings on this site would represent a significant change in character.”
Planners say the scheme would look like an “isolated group of housing” set apart from the edge of Ashbourne.
They wrote: “The development would extend the edge of Ashbourne in a manner that would undermine the undeveloped character between the edge of Ashbourne and the group of buildings at Sturston.
“The application site makes a positive contribution to the setting of Gate Farm and the development would significantly harm this open rural setting by introducing an urbanising form of development.”
Derbyshire County Council has requested the developer pay a quarter of a million pounds to fund eight secondary school places at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Ashbourne.
The council’s highways team is happy with the proposed access and impact on surrounding roads, noting one crash in the past five years, which happened in 2018.
Health officials at the NHS Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board have not requested funding support because it falls below its threshold of 50 homes.
