Planning application submitted for 75 new homes on Matlock greenfield site

As reported back in July, land promotion company Richborough Estates has drawn up proposals for a 4.27 hectare greenfield area, currently used for grazing livestock opposite the golf club on Chesterfield Road.

The planning application reveals the outline of a development with ambitions to include 30 per cent ‘affordable’ housing – although there is no guarantee at this early stage.

The company has been pushing for the site to be included in the Derbyshire Dales Local Plan – currently undergoing a periodic update – and the council has carried out a Strategic Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA) to examine its potential.

That document highlights potential issues which the planning application may now encounter, estimating its capacity as 64 homes and concluding: “Given the potential impact upon landscape sensitivity and settlement pattern, the site is considered to be 50 per cent developable.”

The plans seek to address the landscape concerns by concentrating homes on the lower reaches of the site, close to Chesterfield Road, partially screened with trees to minimise the impact on the view of the slopes, dry-stone walls and woodland behind.

Elsewhere in the SHELAA, council officers note the impact on primary and secondary schools in the immediate area already facing capacity issues, and the high likelihood that new residents would have to rely on cars to reach local amenities, thereby increasing traffic.

While the potential flooding impact is rightly a hot topic around building in Matlock, the SHELAA found this site poses a particularly low risk.

Judging by responses so far submitted to the council, not all of the site’s neighbours are convinced by the idea.

Most note the concerns above, and one comment which sums up the feeling said: “It is wrong to keep building on our greenfields with no regard to what the local residents think.”

For full details and drawings of the project, search for application 22/01044/OUT at derbyshiredales.gov.uk. Public comments close on Thursday, October 6.

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 subscrib e.