The long battle to save the Matlock Wolds from development continues

Plans to build hundreds of houses and commercial units above Matlock on
greenfields on a site locally known as The Wolds, were turned down by Derbyshire
Dales District Council in March. However, the developer has lodged an appeal, so the
fight to protect this beautiful and valuable landscape from development is sadly not
over.

The story so far  

More than eight years ago when Derbyshire Dales District Council (DDDC) was developing its Local Plan 2013-2033, one of the sites proposed for housing was a large greenfield area off Gritstone Road in Matlock, otherwise known as the Wolds. This is an area of open landscape above the town, adjacent to Matlock Moor and highly visible from multiple viewpoints. At the time CPRE Derbyshire objected to its inclusion in the Local Plan due to the  landscape sensitivity of the site, its position outside the historic Matlock settlement boundary and traffic grounds, as did hundreds of local residents and Matlock Town Council. Unfortunately, DDDC chose to ignore the numerous valid objections, including concerns about flooding, and included the site in the Local Plan.

Subsequently, back in 2018, the developer William Davis, submitted an application to build on the site – to which Derbyshire CPRE strongly objected as we believe the site should never have been included in the Local Plan. We also vigorously objected to the revised plan (to build 78 new residential units, as well as the facilitation of site access for varied commercial uses and for up to 345 residential units), on the grounds, again, of landscape impact and of environmental sustainability and climate impact. We submitted a further objection relating to added flood risk increase when addition watercourses were discovered on site with a plans to culvert the water course and concerns about increase in the size of the proposed attenuation ponds.

Where we are now

After many years the application was finally considered by DDDC in March 2024. Despite the site’s inclusion in the Local Plan we and many others, not least the Wolds action group who have campaigned tirelessly to preserve the Wolds site, were hopeful that DDDC would take on board new evidence about the risk of flooding caused by run-off from the site and additional information about rare and precious ecological systems present there.

We were delighted that DDDC rejected Willam Davis’s planning application. The reasons for the refusal were related to flood risk, concerns about loss of biodiversity, harm to the character and appearance of the area and lack of affordable housing. See the council’s Decision Notice for further details about their decision.

What next?

Unsurprisingly William Davis is appealing DDDC’s decision. Our previous objections to the development plans still stand and as part of the appeal process, we have submitted yet a further objection. Way back,  the developer proposed to reduce the proportion of affordable housing on site from 30 to 15 per cent,  which was of concern to CPRE but by the time the plans went before DDDC’s planning committee we understand that William Davis had removed all affordable housing from their plans! As a key concern of CPRE we submitted our objection to the proposed lack of affordable housing for the development to the Planning Inspectorate. You can see CPRE’s report on our position on affordable housing here State-of-Rural-Affordable-Housing_online.pdf

The public inquiry will begin on 11th March 2025. It is timetabled to last for 8 days, 11th to 14th March and 18th to 21st March 2025. We should, by mid-February 2025, have more specific details relating to the inquiry, including its location.