Another public consultation is being carried out over major plans to build up to 150 homes on the edge of Derby, which could see the expansion of a city suburb. The plans are for a new housing development next to Lime Lane and the ancient woodland Chaddesden Wood in Oakwood, which has attracted almost 1,500 objections.
An initial application was withdrawn in 2023 before plans were resubmitted in the summer of 2024 by developer JGP Properties Limited. A final decision on the plans is now expected to be made “in the first half” of this year.
Councillors say “slight” changes have been made to the application which allows residents to have their say once more. Residents now have until Friday, January 24 to make comments, but those who made comments initially do not have to do so again.
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Main concerns surrounding the proposals include the potential of traffic problems and that the plans centre on building on Derby’s green wedge space and possible harm to countryside and potential impact to the Chaddesden Wood nature reserve.
But the developer says the land off Lime Lane can deliver a residential scheme to suit its needs. In planning documents, the developer has said: “Ultimately, Lime Lane is a sustainable location for residential development, as proposed. The scheme is developable and deliverable upon any grant of planning permission.”
New planning documents say the application will supply up to 150 dwellings “at a time that Derby City Council is failing to provide adequate housing land”. It is said that 45 affordable homes will be provided as part of the development.
It appears new documents include the developer’s responses to issues raised within the public consultation carried out last summer. One of them issues is the green wedge space separating Oakwood and Chaddesden.
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A letter to the council on behalf of the developer says: “We consider that the application proposals, which include significant areas of planting and corridors of public open space, are a sensitive response to releasing part of the North Oakwood Green Wedge for housing development in relation to the council’s clear and ongoing undersupply of housing land.”
CPRE Derbyshire – a countryside charity – objected to the plans, stating in a letter: “Derby city has championed the idea of Green Wedges into residential areas to give breathing space and to allow wildlife to flourish. The Green Wedge is formed of this proposed development and Chaddesden Wood.
“If the proposal is allowed, it would isolate Chaddesden Wood and deny its natural connection to the open countryside towards Lime Lane. We should value natural woodland and seek to enhance its setting, not surround it by urban development.”
Oakwood’s three Conservative councillors, who are against the plans, said in an update: “The new documents contain slightly amended proposals and responses to a number of questions and queries raised during the initial consultation process. From our first reading of the report, very little has substantially changed”.
Earlier this week, it was a reported a public inquiry is to be held over a dispute about building new homes on another Green Wedge space in Derby separating Spondon and Chaddesden. This is in relation to Miller Homes’ plan to build up to 90 new homes next to Royal Hill Road.
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