New homes plan 'out of keeping' with Chesterfield town centre street

The proposal, submitted to Chesterfield Borough Council, would see two new three-bedroom houses built on Abercrombie Street and the conversion of two other properties to create a single dwelling.

The developers, listed as Design Services of Chesterfield, say they want to provide ‘good quality, sustainable and permanent accommodation near to the town centre’.

Resident Craig Lonie said he supported the plans as a way of removing an ‘eyesore’ on the street.

MORE: New lease of life for old building in Chesterfield

However, the plans have sparked criticism from council officers and civic leaders.

Conservation officer Francesca Siviter said in her report that the proposal did not match her ‘preferred architectural solution’.

“The demolition of the existing bedsits is a positive element of the application, and I make no objection to this,” she added.

"The chosen style of the replacement dwellings is a pastiche architecture.”

MORE: Chesterfield areas with the lowest life expectancy revealed

Chesterfield and District Civic Society said the proposal did not fit in with the ‘Italianate character of all the original houses on Abercrombie Street’.

In a report to the council, the civic society said: “The present application envisages the demolition of a derelict structure at the rear of the garden of number 20, to which there can be no possible objection, and the building of a pair of three-bedroom semi-detached houses in their place, to which there is every objection.

"The houses themselves are very small and of wholly unremarkable design, quite out of keeping with the adjoining properties.

"There is obviously a place in Chesterfield for modest semi detached houses of this sort, but it is not in the garden of a house on Abercrombie Street.

"Their construction would spoil the setting of numbers 20 and 22 and the general street picture of the conservation area.”

The society has also criticised the application itself, dubbing it ‘grossly inadequate in the form in which it has been prepared’.

Design Services of Chesterfield said in their design and access statement: “This application offers much-needed sustainable living accommodation, together with parking facilities near to the town centre, in an area where it will be welcomed by the immediate neighbours and the surrounding properties.”

Support your Derbyshire Times by becoming a digital subscriber. You will see 70 per cent fewer ads on stories, meaning faster load times and an overall enhanced user experience. Click here to subscribe.