Police called to stand off between residents and developers
Councillors and residents have blocked the entrance and exit to a Derbyshire housing site in protest over lorry traffic moving soil from the site. The Stanley Street site in Somercotes is being worked on by Miller Homes on behalf of Futures Housing in a bid to build 180 houses.
However, today (June 30) work ground to a halt after the access was blocked by Cllr John McCabe, an Amber Valley Borough Council[1] cabinet member and Somercotes Parish Council chairman, who parked his Hyundai i30 across the entrance and exit point. A number of residents also ensured lorries could not enter or leave the development site, claiming dozens of lorries were backed up along Stanley Street trying to gain entry and a number on site attempting to leave.
Cllr McCabe told the Local Democracy Reporting Service it was a case of “stop the lorries, not stop the boats”. Derbyshire Police attended the incident, which started at 11.15am, with a spokesperson saying: “We were called to a report of residents blocking access to a construction site in Stanley Street, Somercotes, at 11.25am on Friday, June 30.
“Our officers attended the scene, and it was determined the workers had been granted temporary permission to work on the site. Residents were advised that they can protest but cannot block the entrance to the site.”
Miller Homes and Futures Housing have both been approached for comment. Cllr McCabe said: “I was just doing what I could. I had had enough.
“I am not one to stand still, I want to do something for my community.” He said the borough council was looking into whether the housebuilder was authorised to move soil from the site.
Residents said in a public council meeting this week that dozens of lorries per day are leaving the site with soil, which they believe to be contaminated due to the neighbouring historic landfill sites. This waste is being transported in dozens of lorries a day to a site in nearby Ashfield, residents who followed the lorries on a previous occasion have confirmed, an issue which has been flagged with the area’s district council by Amber Valley and residents.
The Stanley Street, Somercotes, housing site which was blocked off by residents and councillors (Image: Derby Telegraph)
David James, a 73-year-old former maintenance engineer who has lived opposite the site for 44 years, was one of the residents helping to block the lorries. He said: “In Covid we were confined to our houses but at least we could use our gardens. Now we can’t even do that because of the noise and dust and the vibration.
“It is metres from my house and I am used to loud noises from when I worked in quarries but it was nothing like this. We could have a cup of tea in peace on-site in the quarries and now my cup of tea is moving across the table because of the vibration.
“I can’t hear my TV it is so loud.”
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References
- ^ Amber Valley Borough Council (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
- ^ What life was like next to historic Somercotes tips where homes will be built (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
- ^ the main Derbyshire Live newsletter here. (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)