Local Plan
You will recall that I advised you during the last update that the Local Plan for North East Derbyshire was due to have been sent out for public consultation in September or October of this year. Work on the Plan continues slowly and is currently scheduled for a further delay of about three months. That date too is likely to be subject to a considerable delay, due to changed circumstances.
Having viewed Government guidance in respect of Local Plan preparation the North East Derbyshire District Council have concluded that their intended option of preparing our plan in two parts was not viable, and would have been judged ‘unsound’ by the Government Inspector.
They now intend to submit a single plan that will include the sites that they intend to designate for building development over the next five or six years. This will bring about a Green Belt review, with Green Belt sites being designated for building development, much earlier than was planned for, or that we hoped for.
There is a problematic issue with the location of relevant available sites within North East Derbyshire, and with the ‘deliverability’ of those sites.
To put this absolutely clearly, most of the available housing development land is to the south of the county, whilst the most demand is in the north, east and west. Due to the alleged Green Belt constraints in the north (us) and the west, Green Belt land will be taken for housing. You will recall that, previously, the 1000 homes intended to be built in the north were to be accommodated on non-Green Belt land. The forthcoming review may require an alteration to the current Settlement Development Limit which divides the built-up area of Killamarsh from the surrounding Green Belt. Killamarsh has been developed right up to the Settlement Limit line, hence the allegation that further development is ‘constrained by the Green Belt’.
Another issue relates to ‘deliverability’. Again, this means that the land is available to be built upon but developers do not want to build there – probably because the sites are not in areas where they believe they can maximise their profits, or even sell enough of the houses. Due to this deliverability issue the north of the region was unlikely to achieve its housing target of 1000 homes before the target date – in fact, it was projected that less than 25% of this number would have been built.
The council will now work on an urgent Green Belt review and will prepare a single plan, due for publication in 12-18 months time. It should be noted that if the Local Plan is not produced by ‘early 2017’ the Government will prepare a plan for them. We will wait to be informed by either eventuality.
Other Issues
It seems that building on Green Belt land is not the only problem to be concerned about in the near future.
Fracking
The Government has offered 27 plots, each of 10 square kilometres for bids by companies interested in hydraulic fracturing, better known as ‘fracking’, in a bid to develop the production of oil and natural gas. We, in Killamarsh, are within one of the areas for which bids have been invited. Various websites outline the benefits and problems associates with fracking, and I advise you to look up the information. I will inform you when further specific information is available. The 27 areas currently being auctioned are not judged to be environmentally sensitive. A further 132 ‘plots’, many to the south and west of us, will be auctioned off when environmental issues have been researched further.
Solar Farm
A solar farm is planned on County Council-owned land near to the old Westthorpe Colliery. There are mixed views on the value of such ‘farms’, with environmental impact being dictated by the location and design of them. We need to keep our collective eyes on this issue.
HS2
The last major difficulty involves HS2 which, although it is the most distant in terms of timescale, will perhaps have the most dramatic impact on Killamarsh, in terms of disruption and devastation.
All of these matters need to be carefully monitored so that the final outcomes benefit Killamarsh residents, and not greedy developers or soulless Government officials.
As soon as we have specific information about any relevant issue we will call a public meeting to which you will all be invited.
Killamarsh Town Centre Plan
Many of you will have noticed an article in the last NE Derbyshire magazine that referred to the forthcoming formulation of a ‘town centre plan’ for Killamarsh (and Dronfield). Public consultation within the local communities concerned will run from Saturday 5th to Wednesday 16th of September, 2015. I do not know the exact dates for Killamarsh, but will publicise them when known. In view of the acknowledged lack of open spaces within Killamarsh it is well worth those who believe we should have some structured leisure facilities, incorporating the ‘new’ canal route, the Pennine Way and connecting footpaths and wildflower meadows, making that view known. If you have any suggestions for any of our Green Belt areas, please let us know. We will support any suitable and appropriate ‘leisure pursuit’ plan.
As always, let us know if you hear or see anything that might present problems in the local Green Belt areas.
Paul Johnson,
Chair of RAGE