3,500 people are now said to have signed a petition to Bolsover District Council against a big housing scheme.
The 1,800 home development plus neighbourhood centre, hotel and restaurant would adjoin the north of the village of Clowne.
The developers say the plans would bring up to 2,000 new jobs, improvements to Clowne centre, a net gain in hedgerows and habitats, and a new 2-form primary school.
But the Clowne Garden Village action group says that’s misleading – it says the developers would supply a pot of money to have children educated at existing schools outside the village, and once that dries up, it says the village would be left with no new school. The group says plans for new health facilities are similarly lacking.
Barlborough Parish Council’s having a special meeting to discuss ways to object to the proposal on Wednesday 14 June at 7.30pm.
It comes as a national debate takes place about the lack of housebuilding, and the resulting high cost of housing, especially for young people wanting to start families. While Bolsover District is among the more affordable local authority areas for housing, a typical home in 2022 still cost more than six times as much as the average annual wage. Twenty years ago, a typical house in the district cost only three times the average wage.
North Derbyshire Radio’s Senior News Editor Matt Hewitt heard from Dom Webb from the action group against the Clowne scheme, who began by setting out what’s been proposed.
