Campaigners blockade Derbyshire housing development where 180 homes are being built

The Stanley Street site in Somercotes is being worked on by Miller Homes on behalf of Futures Housing in a bid to build 180 houses.

However, work ground to a halt today after the access was blocked by Cllr John McCabe, an Amber Valley Borough Council cabinet member and Somercotes Parish Council chairman, who parked his Hyundai i30 across the entrance and exit point.

A number of residents also ensured lorries could not enter or leave the development site, claiming dozens of lorries were backed up along Stanley Street trying to gain entry and a number on site attempting to leave. Cllr McCabe said it was a case of “stop the lorries, not stop the boats”.

Derbyshire Police attended the incident, which started at 11.15am, with a spokesperson saying: “We were called to a report of residents blocking access to a construction site in Stanley Street, Somercotes, at 11.25am on Friday, June 30.

“Our officers attended the scene, and it was determined the workers had been granted temporary permission to work on the site. Residents were advised that they can protest but cannot block the entrance to the site.” Miller Homes and Futures Housing have both been approached for comment.

Cllr McCabe said: “I was just doing what I could. I had had enough. I am not one to stand still, I want to do something for my community.”He said the borough council was looking into whether the housebuilder was authorised to move soil from the site.

David James, a 73-year-old former maintenance engineer who has lived opposite the site for 44 years, was one of the residents helping to block the lorries.

He said: “In Covid we were confined to our houses but at least we could use our gardens. Now we can’t even do that because of the noise and dust and the vibration.

“It is metres from my house and I am used to loud noises from when I worked in quarries but it was nothing like this. I can’t hear my TV, it is so loud.”