Campaigners are planning to appeal against a controversial decision by Bolsover District Council’s planning committee to grant outline planning permission for a massive housing development near two Derbyshire villages.
The planning committee approved Waystone Ltd’s outline planning application at a meeting on September 17 for the Clowne Garden Village scheme’s plans for 1,800 new homes with 24 hectares of greenfield land for employment, community and commercial development near Clowne and Barlborough.
Dominic Page, representing Waystone, told the council the development will help meet much-needed housing and jobs and will provide highway
improvements and more than £25m in contributions to the area’s infrastructure and services.
But Clowne Garden Village Action Group chairperson Dominic Webb told the committee: “You have failed, as a council, the parishes of Clowne and Barlborough. You have no moral authority and I will also say this, and I’m sorry that this has to be said, the applicant is not welcome in Clowne and Barlborough and we will be fighting this.”
The meeting heard how the Secretary of State will be considering whether to call the scheme in for further consideration following the committee’s decision which campaigners hope could lead to a public inquiry and a successful appeal.
Campaigner Mr Webb also stressed the action group has been pursuing a judicial review into details concerning the scheme’s inclusion in the council’s updated Local Plan.
The scheme at a site which includes part of Clowne village centre off Hickinwood Lane, also features plans for a retirement village, a neighbourhood centre, a hotel, restaurant, health and care provision, leisure uses, with demolition work at Station Road Industrial Estate.
Many residents and campaigners have raised objections to the scheme at its proposed site, north of Clowne, amid fears it will lead to overcrowding, place a strain on highways, health services and education, create drainage and flooding problems and affect the countryside and wildlife with the loss of some Green Belt land.
A consultation attracted at least 1,400 comments and the action group’s membership has grown to over 2,000 and its online and paper petitions have over 6,000 signatures from residents in Clowne and Barlborough opposed to the plans.
However, council planning officer Steve Gill said an inspector has previously stated the development could be made ‘sound’ and Mr Gill added it will result in a significant contribution for growth and housing and that only a small portion of the site will be in the Green Belt.
He added the scheme will also bring a new primary school, a financial contribution to secondary education, improvements to highways and the Treble Bob roundabout, a healthcare contribution and ten percent of the housing will be classed as affordable.
Any lost biodiversity and loss of trees, according to Mr Gill, will also be addressed with plans for a park, a village green allotment and green space provision.
Mr Gill said there will be drainage methods to address flooding concerns with a possible hydraulic analysis.
He added: “The public benefits, significant housing provision, significant employment, green space and educational provision – together, accumulatively – outweigh the potential harmful impacts.”
Derbyshire County Council’s highways authority and Highways England raised no objections to the scheme, and the county council’s flood team, the Environment Agency, the Coal Authority, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and Yorkshire Water also raised no objections.
However, Active Travel England objected on the grounds the scheme does not provide sufficient infrastructure for walking and cycling, and Barlborough Parish Council and Clowne Parish Council also objected with concerns about traffic, the environment, health needs and the impact on sewage and drainage.
District Cllr Will Fletcher, who represents Clowne West, said his constituents are ‘overwhelmingly opposed’ to the development and that there are already potential traffic issues at bottleneck junctions around High Street, in the village, and he claims any proposed works at the Treble Bob roundabout, between Barlborough and Clowne, will not solve highway issues.
He added: “Without a proper assessment of these junctions it is not possible to begin to understand the potential impact, let alone address it, or say if it’s acceptable in planning terms.”
District Cllr Duncan Haywood, for the Barlborough ward, raised flooding concerns based on rainfall moving down through Clowne, Creswell and Clumber Park and the River Trent and he fears rain will be funnelled to the south of the scheme’s site.
The district councillor for Clowne East, Cllr Davd Bennett, said parking spaces are already limited in Clowne and more traffic will also inhibit emergency vehicles.
He said: “I would like to equate the committee to a doctor. We look at the case needs, we begin a plan of action and at the beginning of the Hippocratic oath we do not harm – but I would like to submit that this application leads to a lot of harm.”
Cllr Bennett added: “It is unsustainable in the long-term. The heart of the village will become so clogged it will stop beating.”
District Cllr Vicky Wapplington, who represents Barlborough, said the scheme’s number of affordable homes will not end the housing crisis in Clowne and if the development goes ahead the village will face years of traffic pollution and that a more balanced development is needed.
Barlborough Parish Councillor Jane Haywood said she believes the development will lead to more traffic and congestion around the Treble Bob roundabout and that the scheme will be a car-reliant site.
She added: “Our village will continue to face risk and disruption and at the end of this we will still face huge amounts of traffic coming through the village with absolutely no benefit to Barlborough.”
Barlborough resident David Dixon said: “I am opposed to what I consider is an extensive development that will change the landscape and character of the area for Barlborough and Clowne for years to come.”
Clowne Parish Council Clerk Steve Singleton stated that Clowne Parish Council opposes the scheme due to claims that the existing infrastructure will be ‘woefully inadequate’ for the development.
Action group campaigner Roger Dell argued the Treble Bob roundabout will struggle with the influx of hundreds of more vehicles and fellow campaigner Dee Dell highlighted concerns about potential drainage and sewage problems.
Nearby Creswell resident Tanya Warren stated she is concerned more traffic could delay emergency journeys for those needing treatment at Chesterfield Royal Hospital and Barlborough resident Cheryl Phillips said she was concerned more traffic would pose safety problems for school children.
Mr Page, representing Waystone, argued the site is allocated in the council’s Local Plan for development and the council had previously been favourable to an original application for the scheme back in 2018.
He said: “The simple fact is that the country has not been building enough houses to meet changes in the population.”
Mr Page added that ‘bold decisions’ are needed by planning authorities to create housing and infrastructure and to help the country grow and any failure to deliver developments will place pressure on the district.
He also argued there is a ‘silent majority’ who will not speak out against opposition to the scheme and they include residents looking for a new home, people returning to the area and those looking for jobs,
As well as providing affordable housing, Mr Page said the scheme would bring improvements to highways and the Treble Bob roundabout, deliver a new primary school with a £9.5m contribution, an £8.2m contribution towards secondary education, a £1.8m contribution towards health care and improvements to access and transport.
The planning committee voted by a majority of eight councillors to two in favour of approving the outline planning application and they granted outline planning permission for the scheme.
However, the matter is now expected to be referred to the Secretary of State for consideration before the development gets any final go-ahead.
