Plans to build homes on a flood-hit site on steep hillside above a Derbyshire town have been submitted

Derbyshire Dales District Council approved a scheme to build 75 homes off Chesterfield Road in Matlock last December and now a final set of plans tying up the details of the site have been put in.

A decision on these detailed plans, from Homes by Honey, on the site opposite the golf club, will be made by the district council in the next few months.

The 75-home site was peppered with concerns from residents about existing flood issues, fearing this could worsen Matlock’s already notorious issues with flooding, which reared their head again this month after short but heavy bouts of rain.

Plans submitted to the council say the scheme – to be called Hazel and bringing in £20 millionfor the developer– would include 23 affordable homes, of which 14 would be available for affordable rent (80 per cent of the market rate), four would be shared ownership (in which part of the home is bought and the other portion rented and eventually bought out) and five would be “first homes” reserved for families with local links who have a proven need for housing.

Among these affordable homes would be eight one-bed houses, seven two-bed houses and three three-bed houses.

Of the remaining market housing, four will be one-bed houses, 10 will be two-bed houses, 18 will be three-bed houses,18 will be four-bed houses and two will be five-bed houses.

All of the proposed homes would be two storeys tall and 22 would be detached.

Each home would have parking spaces including driveways but there would also be a number of shared “parking courts” for visitors, while some properties will also have garages.

Every home would be fitted with an electric vehicle charging point, solar panels and solar thermal technology for providing hot water.

The plans reference an aim to equip the homes with the “most appropriate” renewable energy technology, which could include solar panels, air source heat pumps and hot water heated by solar power.

A report submitted with the plans says solar thermal and solar panels, along with wind power, air source heat pumps and biomass boilers are all “worth of consideration”.

Solar panels and solar thermal have been backed by the developers, but biomass boilers have been deemed “unfeasible” and wind power has been ruled out due to the perceived visual impact, high installation cost and noise generated from the turbines.

A statement in a report submitted by the applicants says: “The proposed development will deliver much-needed housing and affordable housing in a high-quality scheme.

“The benefits that will result from the development include the supply of housing in a sustainable location where residents will have access to a range of facilities, services and employment opportunities.”

On flood water management, the applicants detail that swales (effectively trenches) would be dug to channel water through the development to ponds which would collect the water.

When the council approved the plans last year, development manager Chris Whitmore had said the scheme would lead to the “betterment” of the site’s current land drainage issues, which are currently uncontrolled.

Authorities have requested a large sum of funds from the developers in order to offset the impact of the overall scheme, totalling nearly £670,000.

This includes nearly £590,000 for 21 secondary school spaces at Highfields School, £68,000 for healthcare improvements at Imperial Road Surgery in Matlock and Ivy Grove Surgery in Matlock, £5,300 for library services, £4,450 for providing allotments on a separate site and £3,750 for a travel plan.