250 homes for Green Belt between Derby and an ancient woodland home to a beloved deer herd

More than 250 homes can now be built in the Green Belt between Derby and an ancient woodland home to a beloved deer herd.

At an Erewash Borough Council meeting last night (Wednesday, February 12) councillors approved plans from Bloor Homes to build 259 houses between Spondon and Spondon Wood, despite significant opposition from hundreds of residents.

The land is earmarked in the borough council’s ongoing core strategy review – which is currently sitting with a Government planning inspector – with the Green Belt development previously dubbed “inappropriate”.

However, the meeting was told that new policies on “greybelt” brought the land into play with or without the plan being approved by the inspector, with the site officially “appropriate” within national guidance.

More than 550 people had opposed the plans in letters submitted to the council, along with objections from former Mid Derbyshire MP Pauline Latham, Dale Abbey Parish Council and Ockbrook and Borrowash Parish Council.

Cllr John Wright, a Derby city councillor, told the meeting that the scheme would be “part of Derby” and not help Erewash meet its housing needs, saying: “Once Green Belt is built on it will never be the same again.

He dubbed the scheme “urban sprawl” and called on the council to “listen to residents” “rather than try to fabricate arguments”.

Kevin Palmer, a Spondon resident, dubbed the application which had faced “vigorous opposition” as “wrong, misguided and unnecessary”.

He said the council was “allowing the developer to jump the queue” and “putting the cart before the horse”, “flying in the face of democratic accountability”.

Mr Palmer said housing should only be allowed in the Green Belt in “exceptional circumstances”, saying “developers wanting to churn up the countryside and concrete over it is not exceptional circumstances.”

Cllr Jonathan Smale, a further Derby city councillor, said the plan “threatens to permanently destroy Green Belt land” in an “opportunistic attempt to override clear protections”.

He said Derby schools and GP surgeries were already at or beyond capacity and could not accommodate further students and patients, with traffic congestion worsening.

Cllr Smale said: “There will be no meaningful improvements for the Spondon community, it will only harm them.

“It will isolate the woodland, making it harder for wildlife to survive.”

He said the application was “inappropriate, unsustainable and damaging” and would “set a dangerous precedent for speculative development on Green Belt land” with “consequences which will last for generations”.

Neil Altoft, whose house backs onto the proposed site, said the development would provide an opportunity for further housing to the west, east and north-east and that the council ought to relook at brownfield sites such as the West Hallam Depot.

He said: “Nobody in Derby city or in Erewash has recommended that you should build in this Green Belt.”

A further opposing resident said the scheme represented an “artificial extension of urbanisation” which would “sever the connection between the community and nature”.

James Beverley, on behalf of Bloor Homes, said the development would provide 10 per cent affordable housing on the site (26 houses) along with giving the council £5.5 million to build further homes elsewhere in the borough; more than £1 million for improvements to the A52 westbound off-slip and the junction of Nottingham Road and Willowcroft Road; £1.6 million for school places; £258,000 for healthcare facilities and £47,000 for bus stops.

He said it was “no secret” that Erewash has never hit its annual housebuilding targets set by Government and that it has had to look at Green Belt to meet that assessed need.

Mr Beverley said: “This site does qualify as greybelt and as such is appropriate development.”

Steve Birkinshaw, the council’s head of planning, claimed that Derby City Council had not made “any” request for transport improvements and that the borough had had to submit a Freedom of Information request to its metropolitan counterpart in order to assess the infrastructure needs of the area from the development.

He said it was “regrettable” and “disappointing” that the city council had not supported the application process or offered ideas for transport improvements, but the applicant and the borough had worked out plans together instead.

Mr Birkinshaw said the council was not being asked to delete Green Belt, which does involve an “exceptional circumstances” reason, and said new greybelt policies approved of houses on land which does not significantly contribute to restricting urban sprawl or lead to two towns merging.

He said the site is “highly self-contained” and was five miles from Ilkeston to the east, saying “I would struggle to see how this development leads to the merging of Spondon and Ilkeston”.

Meanwhile, the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust had not opposed the scheme and approved of the 15-metre “buffer zone” separating the proposed homes from the ancient woodland.

Mr Birkinshaw said developments in the borough typically looked for £5,000 in infrastructure contributions per house and that this scheme would provide £35,000 per house, dubbing this “very significant”.

There was extremely limited debate from councillors, with just two members choosing to speak.

Cllr Ann Mills questioned the provision of one electric vehicle charging point per house and the lack of solar panels and continued use of gas boilers in a scheme which was proclaimed to be  providing a “proactive response to climate change”.

Cllr Harry Atkinson, deputy mayor, said: “If this was not on the edge of Spondon I think it would be a case of a quick ‘yes, happy days’.”

Councillors approved the plans by a vote of seven in favour to five against.