Plans for Derbyshire housing scheme thrown out due to concerns over flooding and over-development

The scheme, submitted by Woodall Homes, would have seen 87 homes built off Wyaston Road and the A52 through Ashbourne – with the project reduced from an initial 102 homes.

At a Derbyshire Dales District Council meeting this week, the plans were rejected - against the recommendations of the authority’s planning officials.

This was due to a number of factors, including the cumulative impact of house-building in the area, potential flooding, accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists, traffic congestion and environmental impacts.

Martin Bottomley, who has lived near the site for two years, claimed the underpass under the A52 floods on a regular basis.

He said: “The recent (housing) development made that worse and if you are going to put more houses on then it is going to make it worse. I am really worried that you are going to allow building on a site where there needs to be more natural drainage. It is a problem already and if you build on it it is just going to get worse, that’s common sense.”

Steven Prince, who lives in the closest home to the site in Premier Avenue, said a planned public footpath through the site would be set to cut across his front garden. He said he had already had to “turf out” children playing in the balancing ponds on site.

The police raised concerns about access to the ponds, fearing a repeat incident of the tragic deaths of four children at a lake in Solihull last December, after falling through ice.

Darren Abbott, speaking on behalf of the applicants, said: “The site is not at an elevated risk of flooding and the proposed development will not increase flood risk elsewhere, including to the A52 underpass.”

He said the developer would remove the planned footpath, if asked, and that the plot would provide 26 affordable homes – including bungalows – suitable for first-time buyers, families and those looking to downsize.

Flood waters would be captured in below-ground drainage tanks and filtered into a stream potentially leading to the Henmore Brook, officers detailed.

Mr Abbott said the “modern and efficient” homes were designed to reduce energy and water consumption, would support the vitality and viability of Ashbourne, and include a “multi-million-pound” construction spend.

Chris Whitmore, the council’s development manager, said the “steeply sloping” site had been brought to the authority when it made a “call for sites” and it has eventually been flagged as “developable”. He said the site would meet sustainable urban drainage requirements which would be able to cater for increasing flood risks caused by climate change.

Cllr Robert Archer said there was a “bigger picture” to take into account over cumulative development. He said: “There is potentially significant further development of over 1,000 houses (on the former airfield) potentially in the pipeline for that broad area of town in the future

“This application itself is going to have a big impact on the roads and we know there are other developments down the line that will be coming at some point that are going to have an even bigger one.

“I worry that if we don’t start putting a stop to some of these the cumulative impact is going to be pretty devastating to the residents. I know the developer said this would be the final piece of the jigsaw but there certainly seem to be a lot of pieces of this jigsaw on top of the hill and it has made a very big picture without any improvements to the infra and the infra is breaking already. I just don’t think Ashbourne can take it, unfortunately.”

Mr Whitmore said the lack of development on several major allocated housing sites in the Dales, including the former airfield and Middle Peak Quarry in Wirksworth, “puts more pressure on other sites” (such as this one). He said: “Government policy, as much as we might not like it, is geared towards housing delivery.”

Cllr Peter Dobbs said the site had been rated “undeliverable” by the council 18 months ago for issues including sewer capacity.

He said the sewer alongside the A52 serves many new homes and would serve the planned new airfield housing too, saying it is already “historically problematic” leading to the flooding of Waterside Retail Park and a five-metre section of the Henmore Brook to collapse, leaving a gas pipe exposed.

Cllr Peter O’Brien said: “I do accept that in principle I can see a successful housing development on this site or part of this site but unfortunately I don’t think the proposal we have got before us is the one.”

Cllr Dobbs said: “I think it is back to the drawing board. This is a challenging size and it was acknowledged to be a challenging site. This is an ambitious solution to a difficult problem but I don’t think it is a solution we can support today.”