Campaigners hail 'community effort' as 300 homes plan on green fields near Chesterfield withdrawn

Concerns about flooding, traffic and GP surgery capacity prompted dozens of residents to object to the proposed development off Coupe Lane, between Old Tupton and Holmgate.

The plans were resubmitted to North East Derbyshire District Council this summer – after fierce opposition when they were first pitched four years ago.

Now building company the Pegasus Group has written to North East Derbyshire District Council to formally withdraw the planning application, sparking celebrations among campaigners.

Carole Johnson, who lives close to the proposed development site, said: “This has been achieved through people pressure, the support of our MP Lee Rowley and the Derbyshire Times.

"We could all see the nonsense of this folly.

"By putting the pressure on to both the company and the local authority to make them see sense, and consider the devastation and all the problems this would have caused long-term to the whole of this area, we have the result that so many residents worked to achieve.”

People in the quiet villages of Old Tupton and Holmgate had been concerned the development would alter the area forever, bring an increased risk of flooding and a large volume of traffic to country roads.

Carole said you would ‘struggle to find anyone in favour of it’.

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Fellow resident Judith Nicholls said the land proposed for the new homes ‘has historically been prone to flooding’ and 300 properties could only add to the issue.

She said: “The road infrastructure is not able to cope with an extra potential 600 vehicles, given that most homes have at least two cars.”

Carol Marriott had described the size of the development as ‘ridiculous’.

She claimed GP surgeries in the area ‘struggle to cope as it is’ and did not want to see more green fields lost to development.

Developers the Pegasus Group had promised ‘a high quality development that is sensitive to the local context’.

The company did not respond to our request for a comment.

A letter of withdrawal, written by Gary Lees, executive director of Pegasus Group, did not give any reasons for the decision.

Carole said it was a great ‘community effort’ and she hopes developers now leave the site alone.