Homes set for approval on the outskirts of Derbyshire town months after houses were greenlit by Government inspector in the same fields

Derbyshire Dales District Council planning officials have recommended that plans from Stancliffe Homes Ltd for 37 homes are approved on land in Old Hackney Lane in the Hackney area of Matlock.

This comes three months after planning inspector Diane Cragg allowed an appeal from Bowsall Developments Limited and EMH Group for 27 affordable homes on a section of the same series of fields.

This followed a rejection from the council in October last year, in line with recommendations from officers, due to concerns over traffic concerns on a narrow lane and the preservation of the gap between Matlock and Darley Dale.

The combined sites, which could now be set for 64 homes, have been earmarked for 57 homes in the district council’s current Local Plan, which is in the process of being redrawn to earmark homes for the next couple of decades.

It was this allocation which ultimately paved the way for the approval of the 27-home plans at appeal.

The 37-home plans had been originally submitted as 41 homes and had also been set for rejection by the council last year but were withdrawn before councillors could make their final decision.

Officers had said the 41-home scheme has been “piecemeal development” of a site which has been earmarked by the council for development, preventing efficient use of the overall land.

Of the proposed 37 homes, four would be one-bed, four would be two-bed, 16 would be three-bed, nine would be four-bed and four would be five-bed.

Among those, 11 would be classed as affordable housing.

A total of 11 objection letters have been filed by residents opposing the plans, along with opposition from Darley Dale Town Council, due to the land being outside of the identified development zone, that more housing is being built than has been allocated, and that the scheme would lead to an “unmanageable” increase in traffic and the loss of essential agricultural land.

The developer will give £163,000 for improvements at Darley Dale Primary School and a children’s play area would be built on the site.

Council officers, recommending approval, wrote: “In terms of the allocated part of the site it is considered that the proposal makes effective and efficient use of land.

“The development plan makes provision for new housing development on the edge of a Tier 1 settlement in circumstances where the district council is unable to demonstrate a five-year supply of housing land.

“Decisions should apply a presumption in favour of sustainable development and grant permission unless the application of policies in the framework that protect areas or assets of particular importance provides a clear reason for refusing the development proposed or any adverse impacts of doing so would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits.

“Having regard to the Written Ministerial Statement ‘Building the homes we need’ made on 30 July 2024 and the tilted balance as described above which must be applied in this case, whilst the site plays an important role in maintaining a degree of separation of the settlements of Matlock, Hackney and Darley Dale, the identified landscape impact is not considered to outweigh the benefit of the provision of a mixed housing scheme, which comprises the required affordable units in a location where there is a need for such housing.”