ON ROUTE TO 66 MORE HOMES
Village Voice No 264 November 2014
Melbourne & District
by LUCY STEPHENS
MELBOURNE is to get 66 new Persimmon homes after highly controversial plans to build on Kings Newton Lane were given the allclear. There were emotionally charged scenes at South Derbyshire District Council’s planning meeting as councillors “reluctantly” passed the proposals – saying tough new Government legislation, which puts a huge emphasis on home building – coupled with the fact the district council does not have a fiveyear housing land supply – meant their hands were effectively tied. So many Melbourne and Kings Newton residents turned out to hear the debate in Swadlincote that there was standing room only and cries of “shame”
greeted the final approval decision – which was made despite letters of complaint from 206 residents and impassioned speeches from objectors on the night. In fact, there were so many objections to the scheme that planning officers put them into no fewer than 122 different categories – ranging from the impact the development would have on drains, schools, traffic and medical provision to the fact it would bring together Kings Newton and Melbourne, which have historically been separate. Jess Long, chairman of Kings Newton Residents’ Association, argued there were “good planning reasons” for refusing the homes, saying: “Because we are currently being overwhelmed by devel-
l THIS spooky spectacle was part of the Stanton by Bridge Hallowe’en Party. Story and more pictures on Page 8.
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l Jess Long addresses the district council planning meeting in Swadlincote.
opments the residents of Kings Newton and Melbourne are preparing our own Neighbourhood Plan. “We are not against all developments, only those that are unsustainable and threaten to change forever the villages we call home.” District councillors John Harrison and Jim Hewlett told the meeting that Melbourne had already seen significant housing growth over the last few years – including 130 homes on Station Road – and should not be expected to cope with more. Cllr Harrison said the development could be refused on legal grounds because the Local Plan – which pinpoints land that can be built on – was close to being adopted and that there were enough arguments against the development to outweigh any benefits, adding that Melbourne was already “an over-cramped Georgian village”. Cllr Hewlett said there should not be any more housing in Melbourne until local drainage issues had been properly looked into. This follows an incident in the summer when a homeowner on the Millbrook development had her property flooded with raw sewage. But council planners said none of these arguments was strong enough to justify refusing the homes.
A key factor influencing councillors is that a large housing development in the South Derbyshire village of Linton is now going ahead – a planning inspector having granted an appeal by developers after the homes were initially refused by the council. Councillors at the meeting argued they would risk wasting thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money if they were to refuse the 66 homes, since the decision would probably go to a costly appeal which, on current evidence, the district council would seem likely to lose. The new 66 homes bumps up the total number of new homes built and granted in Melbourne over the past few years to 238. Persimmon Homes will have to pay £68,394.06 for six Melbourne Infant School places, £91,192.08 for eight junior school places, and £188,937.87 for 11 secondary school places along with money to expand local GP services. A representative from Persimmon Homes told the meeting of the benefits to the community this money would bring, adding: “Sadly, prospective purchasers and housing association tenants don’t attend these planning meetings to support these applications.”
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Plan to site a new crematorium in Aston
A NEW crematorium could be built in Aston-on-Trent, if council planners agree. Dignity, a company which has 39 crematoria based around the country, will submit plans for one on a site on the Derby Road between Aston and Thulston, north of the A50. The company held a presentation event at the Heritage Centre in Aston to introduce to residents artist impressions of the proposed crematorium together with maps indicating the preferred location. The outline proposals were met with mixed responses by those attending. A spokesperson from the company said: “Our proposal is for a single-storey, state-of-the-art crematorium surrounded by beautifully landscaped Gardens of Remembrance. “We anticipate that there would initially be two or three funerals per weekday, typically between 10.00am and 3.00pm. Our planning application will be submitted shortly once details have been finalised.” Last month’s meeting of the Aston-on-Trent Parish Council agreed it could only discuss the proposals once members had seen the plans, which are not yet available. The area is currently served by two crematoria, one at Markeaton and one in Bretby.
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