A50 driver training base for major infrastructure projects set for …
Plans for an excavator driving training facility in Derbyshire are set for approval. The project, from David Poyser of DCP Farms, would see the new facility built on unviable farmland at Brooklands House Farm in Grove Lane, Doveridge, alongside the A50[1].
It plans to to fill gaps in major infrastructure projects like HS2[2], though that scheme has just been cut in half by the UK Government. Derbyshire Dales District Council[3] planning officials have recommended that the plans should be approved at a meeting on Tuesday, October 10.
DOTTS would be the company setting up shop on the site to train drivers in a range of construction vehicles including a bulldozer, a tracked excavator, a rail-mounted wheeled excavator, a rail-mounted mobile elevated work platform and a rail-mounted small utility vehicle. The company currently has a number of sites across the Midlands, including a HQ at the Midland Heritage Railway in Butterley, along with bases in Walsall, Nottingham and Nuneaton, but now wants a “one-stop shop” in Doveridge to consolidate its business, with expansion at Butterley not possible.
Poll: Do you ride a bike in Derby?[4]
A 100-metre length of railway track would be installed on the site for trainees to learn how to operate a number of the machines. Meanwhile, the training ground would be used for construction training activities including a digging area for the bulldozer and excavator, a small roller area consisting of kerb stones and ground to be rolled, and an inclined area with a platform for a dump truck to traverse up and down and manoeuvre, whilst discharging material.
A report ahead of next week’s meeting says: “The applicant has submitted detailed financial accounts for the previous financial years prior to the avian influenza outbreak on the applicant’s land and has set out the predicted annual sum to be received from the letting of the parcel of land subject to this application. It is clear based on this information that the proposed use of the field is of a scale which would financially support the farming enterprise carried out on the applicant’s wider land holding rather than replace the farming use.”
The facility is aimed at helping Mr Poyser diversify his business and bounce back from severe financial difficulties brought on by an avian flu outbreak. The outbreak, in November last year, led to the loss of 15,000 chickens over three days and the end of the family’s free-range egg business, with the business having delivered eggs to Ashbourne[5], Burton[6], Derby, Rocester, Uttoxeter[7] and Yoxall, including many shops and restaurants.
Birds will not be able to be kept at the farm until February 2024, Mr Poyser wrote in his application, saying Government policy does not provide compensation for farms hit by avian flu. Council officials wrote: “Whilst it is appreciated that the use of vehicles on the site is likely to be more intensive than its current agricultural use, any noise from vehicles within the training facility will be against the backdrop of existing vehicular traffic noise along the A50.
“As part of a farm diversification scheme to support the farming activities on the site, the principle of development is considered to be acceptable in this case.”
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References
- ^ A50 (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
- ^ HS2 (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
- ^ Derbyshire Dales District Council (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
- ^ Do you ride a bike in Derby? (xd.wayin.com)
- ^ Ashbourne (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
- ^ Burton (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
- ^ Uttoxeter (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
- ^ the main Derbyshire Live newsletter here. (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)