Holiday lodges park operator renews bid to expand business to Chesterfield

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Proposals for a holiday lodge development in Chesterfield are back on the table six months after an application seeking permission for change of use of the land was rejected by borough council planners.

James Cash has renewed his bid for change of use of the land at Mayfields, Hady Lane, Hady, Chesterfield which is a former landfill site and is currently used as private paddocks. The land is adjacent to a Travellers’ pitch site which has operated for five years.

Mr Cash is already running a successful tourist lodge park in Norfolk and he wants to replicate this within Derbyshire. His proposal is to erect 15 timber clad lodges, a reception/shop/maintenance building and a children’s playground. The site would be specifically for tourism purposes only and the units would not be available for use by Travellers, unless for short term holiday purposes within the general tourism market.

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The primary reason for the borough council’s refusal of Mr Cash’s application in June 2024 was that the site was actively gassing. Since the ruling, additional testing has discovered that methane emissions are 10 times below the surface emission standard for a permanently capped landfill zone. The proposed lodges would have no in ground foundations and a significant open void beneath; any migrating ground gas to the surface would be rapidly quickly dispersed via passive ventilation. An Enhanced Landfill Gas Risk Assessment concluded that there were many examples of similar developments on closed landfill sites across the UK including Oldbury Caravan Park in Warwickshire and Craigahullair Holiday Park in Portrush.

The proposed site for holiday lodges at Hady Lane, Chesterfield is currently used as a paddock and is situated to the rear of a Travellers pitch.The proposed site for holiday lodges at Hady Lane, Chesterfield is currently used as a paddock and is situated to the rear of a Travellers pitch.
The proposed site for holiday lodges at Hady Lane, Chesterfield is currently used as a paddock and is situated to the rear of a Travellers pitch.

A design and access statement to Chesterfield Borough Council said: “It is evident from the above environmental data that the site is suitable for the development proposed subject to the implementation of the site-specific mitigation/remediation measures.”

Remediation targets include providing hard cover to the majority of the site, including building footprints, roads, parking and paving and implementing suitable gas protection measures within the building design to eliminate the potential for ground gas migration into the stuctures.

The site was used by Derbyshire County Council for household rubbish and non hazardous commercial and industrial waste from 1958 to 1979.

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A remediation statement, prepared by Solmek and submitted as part of Mr Cash’s latest application, comments: “Given the age of the landfill, it is likely that the peak gas generation period has passed. In addition, it is known that an existing venting system for the landfill gas is in place and is operated by the Local Authority. Both of these factors are considered to lower the risks posed by the ground gas.”

Another reason that the borough council refused Mr Cash’s previous application for change of use of the land was that the proposed development would be located beyond the walkable distance and average walking journey to shops set out in the Local Plan and in an area where public transport was infrequent.

However, TPS Transport Consultants have since reported that visitors to the proposed holiday lodges would be able to access key amenities on foot, by bike and by public buses. There would be a shop selling bread, milk snacks on site and a supermarket within acceptable walking distance. There were bus stops within walking distance and hourly bus services from Hady Lane to Bakewell, Calow and Chesterfield town centre that operated every day of the week. More frequent buses running between 20, 30 and 60 minutes seven days a week to wider destinations could be caught from Hady Hill, which was 600-800 metres from the site proposed for the holiday lodges.

The borough council’s decision on Mr Cash’s latest application is pending.

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