Residents in the Derbyshire Dales village of Tansley are banding together to oppose fresh plans to build housing on surrounding fields, saying “enough is enough” after a decade of disproportionate development.

As previously reported, an application to build 33 new homes on Jackhill Farm were submitted earlier this year, with the anticipation of 127 more to follow if the wider site is included in the Derbyshire Dales Local Plan.

Residents and the parish council have been making their feelings known via consultation processes for both the planning application and Local Plan, but that opposition now appears to be merging into a permanent campaign of organised resistance to potential decisions facing the district council (DDDC).

The developer behind the planning application has long-standing personal links to the village and a representative for the Save Tansley Action Group (STAG), also a long-time resident, would only speak anonymously at this early stage.

Tansley residents fear the loss of greenfield landscapes surrounding the village. (Photo: Contributed)

placeholder image — Tansley residents fear the loss of greenfield landscapes surrounding the village. (Photo: Contributed)

They said: “This is just the beginning of our fight. We would like to see the planning application dropped and Jackhill Farm taken out of the draft Local Plan, but we’re not so naïve as to think that can be achieved in the short term.

“Tansley has been here since the 11th century, it’s a lovely village to live in. Since 2015 we’ve seen continual new building, 160 new homes in just the past five years, and, while it’s nice to have new people and energy coming in, if these new plans go ahead the village will have doubled in size and completely changed in character. It’s disproportionate.

“In the past villagers have acknowledged that new homes are needed and everyone must do their bit, but they are now saying enough is enough.”

The spokesperson added: “The official consultation meeting for the Local Plan was a complete waste of time. It went on for four hours but there was no listening to to what the public is saying.

If current plans were to be realised, 150 new homes would be built on these fields. (Photo: Contributed)

“The only reason we’ve been given for this site going into the Local Plan is to meet new Government targets. Our own councillors, who might want to vote against it, have been told that anything that jeopardises the plan being published would unleash anarchy across the district in planning terms, and they can’t risk that.”

After setting up an initial independent meeting, said to include around 45 people in a village of around 500 homes, more and more residents have reportedly been coming forward to share their unease.

With the formation of a collective to voice those concerns, they are taking inspiration from the Wolds Action Group (WAG) down the road in Matlock, which eventually succeeded in overturning plans for more than 400 homes after an inquiry by the national Planning Inspectorate and an investigation into DDDC’s handling of the matter.

The STAG spokesperson said: “What they did at the Wolds was brilliant, but that campaign was built up over ten years, whereas we only started a month ago.

Flooding has become a growing concern on land around the proposed development site. (Photo: Contributed)

“Our first job has been to help people understand there are two parallel consultations happening at the same time, and how to respond to both. It’s all been happening over the summer holidays, when people have been away.”

There are different factors involved in the two sites – the Wolds was judged to pose much greater flood risks, for instance, while Jackhill was previously thought undevelopable due to the steep slopes – but STAG’s opposition to the Jackhill proposals shares a lot of similar themes.

Flooding is a shared concern, as is the impact on wildlife and an increase to existing problems with traffic congestion. The village has limited shopping options, few amenities and occasional transport connections, so most households will be reliant on cars or footpaths into Matlock, or commuting further afield.

Other infrastructure has also come under strain. Throughout last summer drinking water had to be driven in by Severn Trent tankers, and sewage discharges into Bentley Brook have been recorded frequently.

The village already sees significant roadside parking, constricting traffic flow on its main routes. (Photo: Contributed)

The STAG representative said: “The road the developer would have to put in for the 33 homes will be so expensive it will hardly be worth doing for that alone. It almost makes it a foregone conclusion that the full 150 will be built.

“The can talk about putting in cycle paths but the topography doesn’t work for that, and they can promise extra bus services which might get pulled after six months – these are just sticking plasters to try and get over the threshold to build.”

They added: “The inclusion of Jackhill Farm in the local draft plan contradicts many of the Government’s and Derbyshire Dales own policies on greenfield sites, ecology, sustainable travel, infrastructure provision and design and access .

“The local people in and around Tansley are urging Local Councillors , our MP John Whitby and the Planning Inspector to take heed of public opinion and their own policies and turndown the application for thirty-three houses and remove Jackhill Farm from the Local Plan.”

The public consultation on the Local Plan closes at 5pm on Monday, September 14.

For full details of Jackhill Farm and all other proposed development sites, and ow to have your say, go to tinyurl.com/DDDCLocalPlan.

To contact STAG, write to [email protected].