50 more homes sees village ‘creeping towards Derby’

PLANS have been approved for nearly 50 houses in a village near Ashbourne said to be already “overwhelmed” and “swamped” by new developments.

Residents speaking at an Amber Valley Borough Council meeting on Monday say a drastic influx in housing developments in Kirk Langley have created a significant cumulative impact.

They say these schemes mean the village is creeping towards Derby to the east, and that developments on the edge of the city are also spreading west, towards it, at a “frightening rate”.

More than 80 households submitted objection letters to the borough council, saying the village does not have the infrastructure to sustain more housing and has not had for quite some time.

Residents, in response to other housing applications in Kirk Langley, feared the village would double in size due to new developments.

At the meeting, borough councillors approved plans from Peveril Homes Limited for 46 homes off Ashbourne Road in the village.

Of the 46 homes, all but 30 would be detached, six of which would be bungalows. The remaining 16 would be semi-detached.

These homes will form the third and final phase of a Peveril Homes development which was submitted in three separate chunks totalling 109 houses.

Residents felt this was “development by stealth”, with each chunk of housing judged individually instead of as a combined set, they claim.

Lucy Baker, speaking on behalf of the objecting residents, told the meeting that it was imperative that green fields around Kirk Langley were protected.

She warned councillors that there was not an “infinite supply” of green fields and that they were important assets.

Ms Baker said the scheme “adds to the already urban, out-of-scale development in our village” which had “overwhelmed” the area.

Kirk Langley, as of the last census, was home to 291 households but in the past few years 157 houses have been approved around the village and more are on the way.

Ms Baker also claimed that due to a lack of public transport links, the development, as with others in the village, would be entirely car-dependent and not in keeping with fending off a climate emergency.

She said: “When you look at this, can’t you conclude that these houses are in the wrong place and not worth the sacrifice of yet another green field?”

Cllr Brenda Whittaker, chair of Kirk Langley Parish Council’s Neighbourhood Plan Steering Committee, said the village was being “swamped by new homes” and yet had “few amenities” to sustain them.

She said: “It is clear that the village is being extended east to Derby city.”

Cllr Whittaker said the village’s neighbourhood development plan had earmarked 54 new houses up to 2032, but since it was ratified in 2018, 157 houses have been approved through the borough council.

Paul Stone, the agent for the developers, said that the third phase would connect to the previous two schemes with no new access or infrastructure required.

He said an area to the north of the third phase would be left free of homes for biodiversity purposes and would be well-maintained, with that section currently unmanaged.

Council officers say the management of the natural habitat is substantial benefit of the scheme, which would also contain 30 per cent affordable housing - 14 houses.

Mr Stone said the scheme was a “sustainable development in a sustainable location” and that government guidance was to approve developments which are sustainable.

Cllr Jane Orton, who temporarily stepped down as chair of the planning committee so that she could comment on the application - but not vote - said residents had put forward strong reasons for refusal.

She said Kirk Langley was being expanded beyond the existing curtilage of the village.

Rae Gee, a council planning officer, said the site was “highly sustainable” due to the road network and was welllinked with Derby. She said Derbyshire Wildlife Trust had not objected to the plans and welcomed the inclusion of a range of nesting boxes and management of the grassland.

Ms Gee said there were no reasons which “significantly and demonstrably” outweighed the scheme’s benefits - notably new housing and construction jobs during the building of the scheme.

Cllr David Wells contended that these benefits would be present with every housing scheme.

He also questioned the approach of Peveril Homes for “development by stealth” in submitting three smaller chunks of homes instead of the whole overall scheme.

Cllr Wells said: “Those who produced the Kirk Langley Neighbourhood Development Plan must wonder ‘what is the point?.’

“There is a mantra in planning that you must have the right homes in the right place, and I think this development ticks neither of those boxes.”

Cllr Fay Atkinson said the public transport available in Kirk Langley was “inadequate” and car-dependent schemes should not be approved during a climate emergency.

Councillors approved the 46 homes by a vote of six in favour and two against.