Councillor fears building site lorries may pose safety risks for Derbyshire villagers

Chesterfield Borough Council’s planning committee conditionally approved a planning application, last summer, for the £78m Pearl housing scheme, near Tom Lane, between Duckmanton and Long Duckmanton, for 275 new homes, a commercial zone and a community area despite residents’ objections.

Newly-elected Staveley Town Councillor Mick Bagshaw, who oversees the Duckmanton ward, has now raised concerns about road safety and potential disturbances from construction lorries, along with worries about continued flooding on Tom Lane and the prospect of hundreds of extra, daily traffic movements once the development is completed.

He said: “If each house has two vehicles moving about four times a day between them going and coming back from work along with delivery services, dustbin services and buses – and they are proposing to put two bus stops on a very fast road – that will all cause issues.”

Cllr Bagshaw also claims HGVs may end up moving back and forth through Duckmanton along a road with only a 7.5tonne limit during construction so he wants to see them use alternative routes where possible so they don’y pose a safety risk or disturbance to residents.

Once the housing development is built, Cllr Bagshaw has estimated there will be around 2,200 extra daily traffic movements and one of the planned access routes from the site will be on a bad bend where speeding is already a problem so he is also pleading with Derbyshire County Council’s Highways Authority to consider the introduction of speed restrictions and illuminated signs.

Cllr Bagshaw has also echoed many campaigners’ concerns about the vulnerability of Tom Lane to flooding while it provides a vital bus route to Duckmanton.

He said: “When it floods it does cut off the only bus route to the village. It will be interesting to see what they are going to do to make sure the flooding does not get any worse.”

Campaigners had objected to the development and had argued the planning application should have been refused on the grounds of over-development, the loss of greenfield land, potential harm to wildlife, sewage capacity, the strain on facilities and flooding on Tom Lane and Rectory Road, with traffic safety and congestion fears along Tom Lane.

Sutton-cum-Duckmanton Parish Council had also raised concerns about flooding, traffic safety, congestion, and the loss of greenfield land.

However, following the borough council’s conditional planning permission for the development, housebuilder Homes by Honey offered assurances that it had carefully considered the wider community in its plans and that it could balance any concerns with the need for new homes and that it would adhere to planning and environmental conditions.

A Honey spokesperson has since said the builders have not started construction work off Tom Lane yet and the only work up to now on the site has been carrying out surveys.

The spokesperson added: “Regarding concerns around flooding, in accordance with the planning approval we received from the local authority we will be designing and delivering a managed drainage system as part of our detailed scheme.”

The 16.6 hectare site is on agricultural fields to the west of Duckmanton and north of Long Duckmanton and it slopes away from Rectory Road to the west.

It includes three access points from Tom Lane, with one of these leading to a planned 300sq metre commercial zone, and the site also includes 300sq metres of land designated for community use.

Concerned residents originally submitted 152 comments to the borough council and raised many concerns including a lack of resources to deal with more residents, flooding, worries over raw sewage discharge and dangerous traffic junctions.

Yorkshire Water acknowledged the public sewer network does not have capacity and a feasibility study will be needed to determine an upgrade.

The council also stressed the development will need flood risk management after the Environment Agency stated part of the site may be at risk of surface water flooding and after county council has recorded at least 51 incidents of flooding on Tom Lane.

However, the borough council stated the development is acceptable in terms of potential drainage subject to consultations and conditions and the approval of ‘reserved matters’, and the site is deemed to be in a sustainable location as part of the authority’s affordable housing plans.

Borough council development manager Paul Staniforth has also argued that developments are one way in which flooding problems can be improved.

The county council’s Highways Authority has also previously stated the development will not generate a severe enough traffic impact to prevent it from being approved, and the Coal Authority has stated solutions can be achieved despite former mining activities at the area.

An agent for the applicants has stated that they are a local family who have always wanted what is best for Duckmanton.

The Honey spokesperson said: “Outline planning permission for the development was submitted and managed by the original landowners which the council approved.

“The local authority will have carefully considered all aspects of this submission, including additional traffic movements and the location of points of access, before granting permission.

“The council was satisfied with these elements of the original proposals, and we now look forward to delivering 275 much-needed thoughtfully designed new homes for the local community which will be built to the latest sustainability standards.”