Hundreds of new homes near Chesterfield given green light

Developers now have the go-ahead from Chesterfield Borough Council to begin work on the site to the west of Inkersall Road, Staveley.

The 22.3-hectare site is currently farming land and has been identified by the council as a ‘suitable, available, achievable and deliverable site for housing’ which fits in with the authority’s local plan.

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Access to the site is to be provided from two new roads, one off Inkersall Road to the east of the site and one off Inkersall Green Road to the south.

Planning documents by developer Hollins Strategic Land say: “The proposals retain and enhance the existing green corridor running across the site through the incorporation of the brook and enhanced planting.

“New pedestrian and cycle links will be incorporated in this green corridor – providing a new connection between the existing settlement, the Trans Pennine Trail and Poolsbrook Country Park for the benefit of the wider community.”

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The developers are also promising ‘high quality family homes, at a mix of types and sizes and at a medium to low density’.

They say there will be ‘substantial open space and landscape buffers throughout the site’, including ‘a large area of public open space’ in the south-eastern corner.

Although there were some objections to the development from residents, community leaders say it is a better option for the area than other planning applications in the pipeline.

Councillor Mick Bagshaw, Chesterfield Borough Council member for Hollingwood, Inkersall and Duckmanton Ward, said: “My main reason for supporting this development is that the proposed developers have agreed to make safety improvements to the dangerous junction of Inkersall Road/Inkersall Green Road, which will include junction widening and installation of traffic lights.

"This is something I have been campaigning for over 20 years to see.”

However, one resident, Daniel Sellers, wrote in to object to the application, which he described as ‘excessive over-development’ on land not in an existing built-up area.

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