North Derbyshire town's school run traffic 'will become unbearable' if new homes development goes ahead

People living on several streets in Killamarsh have daily issues parking outside their homes, getting onto the main road and suffer from poor air quality due to idling car engines.

The ‘dangerous’ exit from Primrose Lane onto Sheffield Road is an ‘accident waiting to happen’ according to nearby residents.

They say the situation will become ‘unbearable’ if Primrose Lane becomes the access point to a new 50-home development planned on green fields nearby.

Construction company Redmile Homes has applied to North East Derbyshire District Council for permission to build the homes on land off Primrose Lane.

Although they are resigned to the development taking place, residents say they will fight it ‘as long as they can’.

Claire Nundy, 48, who lives on Primrose Lane, said: “We know it is going to happen at some point in the future but we will go down fighting and do as much as we can to convince the council to recognise the problems we face on a daily basis.”

Claire says school-run traffic to Killamarsh Junior School and Killamarsh Infant and Nursery School has been a problem for some time.

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Fellow resident Jean Cookson, 62, of Primrose Close, said bin lorries were regularly unable to turn and ambulances have also been unable to access Primrose Lane and Primrose Close in the past.

"There are single yellow lines but they are ignored,” Jean said. “I know they are single yellow, but they are there for a reason.”

Members of the community are convinced the situation can only get worse if the development is given the green light.

They have accepted new homes will be built at some point – but have called for a different access point.

Claire said: “If the development goes ahead the pull out onto Sheffield Road is an accident waiting to happen. The traffic problem is also likely to become unbearable. Fifty extra homes means up to 150 extra cars so it can only get worse.”

Residents would also like to see a monitoring strip placed on Sheffield Road to give an accurate view of traffic levels.

They say the latest traffic assessment undertaken was done when Rotherham Road was closed due to a burst water mains and did not given accurate picture of the situation.

A Derbyshire County Council spokesperson said: “We’re aware of the issues and have arranged for parking enforcement officers to visit at drop off and pick-up times on several occasions.

“We will continue to monitor the situation and ask our parking enforcement officers to visit again. Anyone with any concerns about parking can request enforcement action at www.derbyshire.gov.uk/doitnow and follow the link to highways requests.

“In the meantime, we would strongly urge people parking in the area to do so considerately and safely at all times.”

A planning statement released by Redmile said the development ‘can make more efficient use of the land available for housing’.

In terms of access, the developer said the ‘existing junction would have ample spare capacity’ and the plans would ‘not have a severe impact’.

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