Council is accused of breaking rules over its plans to build on green belt
CLAIM THAT NEIGHBOURING BOROUGH HAS NOT CONSULTED CITY
TORY city councillors have pointed the finger at “failures” from a Conservative Derbyshire council over plans for homes in the Derby green belt.
Erewash Borough Council is currently pushing on with plans to earmark a site at Acorn Way in Oakwood – next to Lees Brook Community School and the Derby County Football Academy – for 600 homes.
However, the Conservative Derby city councillors representing the Oakwood ward – Mick Barker, Robin Wood – are protesting against the plans and have accused the Toryrun borough council of leaving them and the city authority out of the conversation over the potential housing site.
In a post on Facebook the city councillors wrote: “Last year, before the pandemic hit, we alerted residents about a proposal to remove greenbelt land from Erewash Borough Council Growth Plan, which makes available land for housing. One bit of this proposal was land situated off Acorn Way.
“You may have seen reports and heard rumours of these plans for development north of the city boundary again in the last few days.
“These are again proposals by Erewash Borough Council (EBC) and they are at a very early stage. No planning applications have yet been made.
“EBC has broken all the planning rules that say they must consult Derby City Council.
“Your Conservative councillors, along with Derby’s professional planning officers, are protesting in the strongest possible terms.
“Even the leader of EBC, Cllr Carol Hart, has admitted in writing that EBC officers have ‘jumped the gun.’
“It is our opinion that Erewash has charged ahead, unilaterally, a last-minute bolt-on addition of a site just north of Spondon. Erewash are still obliged to meet the Duty to Cooperate with their neighbours – and not just dump some housing on their and our borders to meet their own needs.
“That means engaging at the start of the process, not when they have already done a report to councillors with preferred options. That is too late.
“If they carry on with this process, we think Erewash would fail in their Duty to Cooperate at their local plan inquiry, and their strategic planning plan for growth could fail.
“A strategic and legal response is being formulated by Derby City Council.”
Erewash Borough Council has been approached for comment and confirmation on whether Cllr Hart has said the authority had “jumped the gun” on earmarking the Oakwood site.
The addition of the site to the borwith
ough council’s core strategy – a blueprint for future planning – is part of an aim given to it by central government to find slots for 6,680 homes by 2037 – 393 a year.
Tony Sylvester, South Derbyshire District Council’s former head of planning, had also strongly objected to the Acorn Way site. Mr Sylvester had suggested that the development had only been included to “make up the numbers” and said there were “inherent risks” and a vast lack of evidence to support its viability.
Despite this, the borough council has said: “Consultation did not identify any substantive issues with this site.”