Controversial plan for access route to proposed care home at Walton Works redevelopment site in Chesterfield is withdrawn
A controversial plan for an access road to a new care home at the former Walton Works site in Chesterfield has been withdrawn.
The application for a 80m road extending west from Factory Street was submitted to Chesterfield Borough Council by ID Planning, an agent acting for Robinson plc in November 2023. A statement in support of the application indicated that the road was to provide initial infrastructure to support the regeneration of the wider Walton Works site. The statement read: “The road provides access to the proposed care home development to the south of the application site.”
In September 2024 an application to build a new 72-bed care home in Chesterfield was approved by the council. The planning committee considered substantial flooding in the area during Storm Babet, when water ran halfway along Factory Street from Chatsworth Road. But the proposed site for the care home did not flood and the Environment Agency raised no objection.
Michael Smith, a chartered civil engineer whose job involves writing flood risk assessments, wrote to the council in January 2024: “Based on the proposed alignment of the access road, it will connect to Factory Street in the location where severe flooding occurred during Storm Babet. Therefore, in the event of similar flooding, the proposed access road would not provide a safe means of access and egress in an emergency. This is particularly pertinent as the access road will serve a proposed care home, with vulnerable users.”
In February 2024 Aaron Storey highlighted the problems caused by Storm Babet four months earlier. Mr Storey commented in a letter to the council: “As a local resident, my home, adjacent homes and businesses were severely impacted by these floods. My home, located on Brook Vale, Chatsworth Road, is still currently in an uninhabitable state, as are many neighbouring properties and hundreds more in the wider area.
“This has caused overwhelming upset and devastation to us all and will continue to do so for the foreseeable months ahead and most likely many years to come.
“I'm already concerned about future flooding in the area, and this proposed 72 bed care home and access road will inevitably further impact this.”
The reason for the withdrawal of the application for the proposed access has not been made public on the borough council's planning portal. A letter to ID Planning from the council’s development management department, published on January 6, 2026 states: “I can confirm that the application has now been withdrawn, in accordance with the instruction in your letter, and that no further action will therefore, be undertaken on it.”
In December 2025, an application in relation to the development of the care home was submitted to the council seeking permission to discharge the following conditions: a written scheme of investigation, buffer zone, maintenance of surface water drainage, avoidance of surface water run-off during construction, employment and training scheme, materials.