Here is a copy of the letter sent to NEDDC from one of our Members, Anthony Cross. Have a read and hopefully it will inspire you like it has us.
Subject: Threat to the Greenbelt – Westthorpe, Upperthorpe, Green Lane areas of Killamarsh.
Comments of Anthony Cross, to North East Derbyshire District Council.
I am almost 70 years of age and lived in Green Lane, Killamarsh, for 23 of those years, and in Spinkhill, the village about a mile away, for more than 40 years. I still have business interests at the Westthorpe Fields Business Park, Green Lane.
In view of my age, no doubt some will assume that I am automatically resistant to change. I am not, and some who know me will know that I have demonstrated that I am not.
Nevertheless, the material issue is not merely the threat of change. In my view, it is regrettable that residents are being made by Public Authorities, to feel it necessary to defend a freedom and public amenity that has existed for many years longer than I have experienced.
I lived at No. 12 Green Lane and played in the fields opposite. Those fields are still being used constantly by walkers who enjoy the countryside and to accommodate horses kept by people who enjoy to keep and ride them in a countryside environment. That will no longer be possible if the Council allows more urban sprawl into the area, which will be for its financial gain. The owls and other wildlife that inhabit that land, and orchids and other flora that grow there, will disappear forever.
It is not being made easy for residents to understand the implications of what is at stake. Documentation is available, but it is voluminous, complicated and full of terms that most people don’t have the time or persistence to understand. I can’t escape from the belief that Authorities wish that to be the case.
Consultation is taking place in Killamarsh as I write these notes: is it accidental that it has been arranged at a time when many residents could be away on holiday? Knowledge of the arrangements for consultation is not gained readily – details have to be sought out via a website, most likely, and are not easily found, even if one has the presence of mind and wherewith all to look for them. I am fortunate, in that I am kept informed by Killamarsh RAGE, a group that is vigilant and determined to resist and make difficult, any attempt to attack Greenbelt in the area.
Such concerns are not mine alone, and they indicate that trust is at the heart of the matter. Why should residents feel able to rely on the judgement of a council that sees an opportunity to collect much, via Council Tax, yet spend nothing in developing the properties that will provide that income, and on a basis that is unconvincing, at best, and significantly flawed, at worst.
I understand that the Council can’t afford to develop supposedly-necessary ‘affordable housing’, yet development of that, by private developers, will lead to even greater development of more expensive housing, to make it an economic proposition for the developers. It is said that affordable housing should account for 30% of total development, to make it a proposition for the developers, yet I understand that in a recent case, 17% was the economic limit for the developer. How much will that inflate the estimate of total homes to be built?
All budgets are ‘bestguesses’, but in this matter there has been no proper, objective assessment of additional properties needed: I understand that existing houses available for purchase/rent have not even been taken into account. It should not be necessary for right-minded people to have to resist a potential intrusion that threatens to destroy a freedom/amenity that has existed for many lifetimes, when the basis for it cannot be satisfactorily demonstrated. I have seen no evidence that it can be substantiated by any reasonable test.
I have seen no evidence of need for substantial further development in the Killamarsh area, either, and conclude that the Council is looking to provide an opportunity for urban sprawl (from Sheffield) to proliferate, to its financial benefit. Certainly, I do not believe that local needs, even over the next 20 years, will warrant the additional houses being contemplated.
If it can be demonstrated that a need exists –and I doubt that any better attempt to assess it will be made – I believe that there are many areas of opportunity in which that need maybe satisfied, without attacking Greenbelt.
Through RAGE –and only because of RAGE- I am aware of the efforts of Harworth Estates to influence the matter…and any thinking person readily understands why it is doing so. In view of its beleaguered coal mining business, it needs to realise its land assets. I understand that that company has said: “we are all in it together”, and no-one disputes that, but its objectives are quite different from those of interested and well-meaning local people, of whom there are many. I trust that the Council will be fair-minded enough to realise that.
Albeit that HarworthEstates’ predecessor business (NCB/British Coal) provided jobs for many hard-working Killamarsh residents (and residents of other Derbyshire villages), for about 150 years –including one member of my family- I lived for some years with the less attractive features of that industry – slag heaps and fumes from fires within them. The area has been relatively clean for many years and there is grass to look at, where slag tips once were, yet the matter currently at issue could result in that environment being destroyed.
Residents of Killamarsh Could be encouraged to believe that benefits would be derived as a result of development of the order being considered. There will be none. No additional infrastructure will be provided, and has not even been thought about, yet main roads in Killamarsh are already inadequate at times. An Aldi shop is being built, and six small units are to be developed, but Aldi and the small units will only replace others that have closed. There will be no consequential employment opportunities of any significance, or at all. Money that the Council will gain as a sop for development, will benefit Council coffers, but not the Killamarsh area.
Not that, if those aspects did benefit the area, would it weaken my resolve and the resolve of other interested residents, to resist the possible destruction of this area of Greenbelt, and I trust that these comments will weigh heavily in your deliberations.
Anthony Cross