LOCAL PLAN RESPONSE, 2015.
I would like to thank all the local people who attended the last RAGE public meeting on Tuesday, 17th March, 2015, at the Nethergreen Club. I said then that I was in the process of preparing my personal response and that I would place this on the website for anyone to view if they so wished.
I do not, and cannot, reply on behalf of RAGE. Each person has their own views; these are mine. In any event the District Council look at not just the content of responses but the amount of them. This is important to show the strength of local feeling.
My personal response is detailed and needs to be viewed against the identified sections of the draft Local Plan Part 1. The full Local Plan Part 1, and the associated Evidence Base used by the authors of the plan, has been uploaded onto our website for your information and perusal.
If you do not have time to look at all the documentation you may wish to give your views on any, or all, of the following areas:
The Local Plan does not contain any wider infrastructure plans that will benefit the North of the District. Why is this?
- How can Killamarsh, and Eckington for that matter, be shown as having a declining population, yet still need lots of affordable houses for ‘local’ need?
- Has there been any independent verification of the Housing Need Assessment? It appears to have been based on income/house prices during the recession.
- NEDDC has admitted to accommodating the housing need for Sheffield. Is all the additional housing needed for an overspill from Sheffield?
- Killamarsh infrastructure is poor and totally inadequate to cope with the development that has taken place over the last century. The three main exit/entry routes are extremely congested during commuting periods and there are historic road problems on each route in and out of Killamarsh. What will the plan provide to alleviate this?
- The shopping variety is poor, with an over-reliance on takeaways and beauty salons. There is no butcher, baker, fishmonger, greengrocer, bank, etc. The doctors’ surgery is full to capacity and there is a long waiting list for acceptance onto the Dental Practice list. How is this adequate for the current population, never mind others coming in?
- The vast majority of spending takes place outside Killamarsh. The Plan says that the intention is to use vacant shops and the Community Campus to regenerate Killamarsh. This is laughable. Clay Cross and Eckington have a Town Centre Regeneration Plan in place. Why hasn’t Killamarsh got such a plan, despite this being a significant challenge?
- Public parking availability within Killamarsh is totally inadequate, not ‘good’ as the Plan suggests. How will this be improved?
- The Green Belt Functionality Study suggests that three areas around Killamarsh, and one at High Moor, are vulnerable to the building of significant numbers of affordable homes. No account has yet been taken, during desk top studies, or short visits by strangers, of the locally important assets to residents. I want to register my protest at their potential use. They contain many rights of way and give green space and open views in a town that has very few such spaces and views within its settlement limits.
- Why have developers been allowed to have 2,825 unimplemented planning permissions in our District? Are they waiting for ‘better’ sites where they can make more money? Something should be done about this disgraceful situation, particularly as the alternative is to build on the Green Belt.
- How soon can the 1,000 empty homes within the NE Derbyshire and Bolsover Districts be brought into use. This should be a priority, before any building on the Green Belt takes place.
- Killamarsh apparently has a ‘balanced’ housing stock. The building of significant amounts of affordable homes will destroy that balance – one of the few balanced stock areas within the District. This balance should not be damaged.
- The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) says that ‘limited affordable housing for local need’ can take place on Green Belt land. What constitutes ‘limited’? We need to have a maximum figure that will be allowed and never exceeded.
- The Local Plan Part 1 outlines that 100% of affordable houses on site will be the starting point for negotiation. Due to the profit margin developers will want to build as few affordable homes as possible. There should be a very high minimum percentage required that will not be breached, somewhere in the 80-90% range.
- The Chesterfield Canal and the Cuckoo Way should be the focal points for a coherent leisure facility to the West of Killamarsh, providing a comprehensive range of healthy, outdoor leisure pursuits.
I hope these issues will give you something to think about, and to comment on. Please include any of your own, of course.
Please encourage your friends and neighbours to respond to this consultation. As I said at the start of this message, the District Council will take note of the number of responses to assess the strength of feeling within communities. We have this one chance – let us take it. Let us do our best to preserve our green spaces, before it’s too late.
If you need to discuss anything with me, please give me a call on 07900-682123.
Your comments need to be received by the North East Derbyshire District Council by the 26th March, 2015.
Responses should be made by email to local.plan@ne-derbyshire.gov.uk. Comments by post should be addressed to ‘Planning Policy Team, North East Derbyshire District Council, Council House, Saltergate, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, S40 1LF.
If you got to NEDDC Local Plan on the website you will be able to make your comments using the interactive response form there.
Paul Johnson, Chair of R.A.G.E.
Click Below for a SPECIMEN response letter, please feel free to copy & personalise to suit your own thoughts and objections
Please use the following link to go to NEDDC Local Plan Documentation