Homes for Derbyshire village rejected to send 'clear message' to UNESCO that the area’s world heritage status is being taken seriously

At an Amber Valley Borough Council meeting on June 9, councillors unanimously rejected plans from Wheeldon Brothers Ltd for nine houses in Plains Lane, Blackbrook – a mile west of Belper.

Councillors, residents, authority officials and the Derwent Valley Mills Partnership were all clear that there was no alternative decision in order to protect the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.

Jeff Upton, the council’s planning manager, said the intended plot was outside the built framework of Blackbrook, considered open countryside and sits 500 metres from the world heritage site – within its protected buffer zone.

He said the public benefits of the scheme did not outweigh the harm to the industrial heritage landscape.

Cllr Ben Bellamy said: “This site has got no history of development whatsoever. It is the definition of a green field site.”

He referenced the current pressure on the world heritage status caused by previously approved housing, including 118 homes at Whitehouse Farm, near Belper, signed off by Secretary of State at the time, Robert Jenrick, in 2020.

Derby developments including the 17-storey Landmark project in Phoenix Street, 150 metres from the Silk Mill, combined with the dilapidation of the Belper Mill complex, have led to UNESCO placing the Derwent Valley Mills world heritage status on its at-risk “state of conservation” register.

Cllr Bellamy said: “The importance of the setting hasn’t changed. We need to send UNESCO a clear message that we are serious about protecting the World Heritage Site.”

Resident Martin Holden said Blackbrook was a “small, quiet, rural hamlet” of just 45 homes, and that the community were “united in our opposition”.

He said: “We can see no benefit in allowing this development to go ahead. “We should not underestimate UNESCO’s willingness to take away the world heritage status.”

He said the field acted as a sponge soaking up water and slowly releasing it into the brook below and that this process would be disrupted if homes are built on it.

Bob Woollard, agent for the applicants, told the meeting that the “sole disputed issue is the impact on the World Heritage Site”.

He said: “We respectfully disagree that there is any impact on the World Heritage Site. It is not in the World Heritage Site and there is no intervisibility into the World Heritage Site.”

Mr Woollard said the project would provide “much needed housing” in the middle of a “national housing crisis” and in a sustainable location.

He said the scheme would provide a “betterment” to the flood prevention of the area.

Mr Woollard said a “tangible benefit” would be to set aside a quarter of an acre of the site for community use.

He urged councillors to “exercise proper planning judgement” and approve plans which would leave a “real lasting benefit”.

Cllr Chris Emmas-Williams, council leader, said: “We had a visit recently from the National Heritage Council, not to this site specifically, and they were very concerned about these developments. We could lose our (world heritage) status and we need to be seen to not be risking that at all.

“The previous case at Whitehouse Farm was in the Conservative Government. Hopefully the new Government will have learned their lesson and won’t grant housing in a World Heritage Site.”