Plans have been submitted for a housing development on the outskirts of a Derbyshire town.
The application by Mr K Whitmore would see 30 houses built off Belper Road, Ashbourne, near the former airfield site.
At the moment, the proposed site is an agricultural field used for cattle, bordered by Mill Lane, several farms and a number of bungalows and new-build homes.
A map from the Ashbourne Neighbourhood Plan, submitted as part of the application, shows that the proposed site is just outside the settlement boundary, with bungalows to the west and new-builds forming the boundary line.
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Derbyshire Dales District Council will make a decision on the application in the next few months.
A document from Planning Design details: “The aim is to create an attractive, outward looking development which addresses Belper Road and areas of open space within the site, hiding driveways, cars, and private gardens to the rear, thus ensuring an attractive gateway to the town.”
Entrance to the site would stem off Belper Road, opposite a farm complex, with a wildflower meadow area in the south-east corner of the site – bordering Mill Lane – to be retained.
The document says this meadow should help provide a protective buffer for a nearby Grade-II listed farmhouse, with aims to also safeguard the non-designated heritage asset Sturston Cottage.
All of the trees and hedgerows would be retained, apart from a break on Belper Road to form the access route and one dead hawthorn tree would be removed.
Of the 30 planned houses, nine would be classed as affordable housing.
The document, on behalf of the applicant, says: “The site is sustainably located on the edge of an existing first-tier settlement, and the Council is unable to currently demonstrate a deliverable housing land supply of five years.
“The provision of open space and planting within and around the site would be able to mitigate some of this impact, particularly over time as the planting matures. As such, the site can accommodate a sensitively designed housing development without any significant adverse landscape or visual impacts
“The scheme will accommodate up to 30 new households, with a significant portion of residents likely to be of working age. The scheme would therefore directly contribute to the availability of local labour in Ashbourne and the surrounding area, and residents of the new development would generate increased spending in the local economy which would help to sustain the vitality of existing services and facilities
“The provision of 9 affordable dwellings would be a significant benefit both for the town and the district as a whole, helping to meet the needs of local people.
“It is acknowledged that these social benefits would not be unique to this proposal, as similar benefits would be likely to flow from any new housing development within the district. However, given the apparent shortage of suitable housing sites across the district, the social benefits do represent real, tangible benefits for the wider community.”
