MATLOCK CIVIC ASSOCIATION
Secretary : Ken Parker, 5 Wishingstone Way, Matlock, Derbyshire DE4 5LU. Tel 01629 584323
Planning Department
Derbyshire Dales District Council2 March 2017
Proposed Housing Development off Asker Lane, Matlock. Ref 17/00025/REM
We wish to make the following representations on this application:
1. Effect on Severn Trent Aqueduct. This major aqueduct supplying water from the Ladybower Reservoirs and serving Derby, Nottingham and Leicester runs diagonally across the fields from Asker Lane (near the junction with Highfield Drive) to the back of Bull Lane Mews. It looks as if the houses proposed to the east of the development will be very close to, if not over the top of, this aqueduct. This should be checked and Severn Trent Water should be consulted if this has not already been done.
2. The footpath running East-West from Chesterfield Road to Bull Lane is a very well used path which also provides a pedestrian link to St Josephs School. It runs over a badger sett. We suggest that the small group of houses proposed to the south of this path should have its new road access from the Hurst Farm Estate immediately to the south instead of crossing this footpath (as proposed). This will avoid any physical effect on the footpath and the badgers and will be much safer for pedestrians.
3. The Open Spaces proposed. We welcome the intention to leave the top of the fields running along Asker Lane and the field below Bailey's Tump as 'public open space'. This is an extensive area of land (3.95ha according to the application documents) and it is well used already by the public with a number of informal paths running across the site. Consideration should be given to formalising the most heavily used of these paths by appropriate hard surfacing (eg from the seat opposite Highfield Drive down to the South-West corner of Baileys Tump) and providing connections to it from the new housing.
4. Maintenance of the Public Open Spaces. How will the new open space be guaranteed to be kept as a public open space as the developers propose? Will it be dedicated to public benefit in perpetuity in some way? This needs to be clear. The long term maintenance of the open spaces will then becritical for the integration of the development into its surroundings. There is a risk that they will become a neglected 'no-man's land'. It is most unlikely that any of the local Councils will be willing to take on this management responsibility. As we understand it there is to be a new Management Company formed - presumablywith initial finance by the developers and then owned by the new householders who will pay an annual fee. 3.9ha of land together with trees, paths, a play area and other responsibilities will be a major undertaking. So there needs to be certainty that the new Company will have the resources to take this on. There should also be some provision for ongoing management should the Company fail. All these arrangements should be set out in a legal agreement linked to any planning consent.
5. Views from Asker Lane across Matlock to Riber Hillside. The open space proposed should go a long way to protecting these cherished views. However the development itself should be kept to a low profile with simple rooflines to enable the interruption to the views to be minimised. The proposals show 2.5 storey development at the highest parts of the site with dormer windows. We suggest that a simpler design with a lower ridge-line would be more appropriate.
6. Boundaries. There is a network of hedges and stone walls crossing the site but the new development proposed does not always follow this existing pattern of boundaries. The new boundaries of the development, especially the boundaries to the open space, need to be local gritstone walls (eg stone re-used from the existing boundaries) and hedgerows planted with hawthorn and other native species. This seems to be the intention but these new boundaries need to be maintained to a consistent standard (by the new Management Company?). There is also a risk that individual householders will install supplementary fencing of various styles and materials which will detract from the setting of the open spaces and footpath corridors and this needs to be prevented in some way under the terms of the planning consent or the complementary Legal Agreement.
7. Materials. The surrounding existing development is a mixture of local gritstone and buff/brown brickwork with dark grey/brown or slate roofs. The new development should be in character. We do not think the use of red brick (as proposed for some of the new houses) is appropriate. The 'stone' proposed should be local gritstone. The render treatment would be better as buff rather than white (as proposed).
Ken Parker
Secretary to the Association MCA1083