Campaigner wants parish poll to gauge opinion on controversial Derbyshire housing scheme

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Bolsover District Council is considering Waystone Ltd’s planning application for the Clowne Garden Village housing scheme for 1,800 properties with 24 hectares of greenfield land for mixed-development and employment, as well as community and commercial facilities between Clowne and Barlborough.

But following hundreds of planning objections from residents, a Clowne Garden Village Action Group petition with over 1,300 names, and Bolsover MP Mark Fletcher’s recent survey results which he claims showed 95per cent of 276 residents who answered questions were opposed to the development.

Clowne Garden Village Action Group Chairperson Dom Webb, who has also been pushing for a Judicial Review to challenge Bolsover District Council’s handling of the planning application, has begun enquiries about organising a parish poll to further outline Clowne villagers’ feelings about the housing scheme.

Clowne Garden Village Housing Protestors

Mr Web stated: “Our action group is going to trigger the parish poll process so that the question of whether residents want the Clowne Garden Village planning development can be asked.”

The determined campaigner has written to Clowne Parish Council and Bolsover District Council to try and organise a parish poll to coincide with the Mayoral and Police Crime Commissioner elections on May 2 after the Tibshelf Neighbourhood Plan referendum had been allowed to run alongside district elections in 2023.

However, given Bolsover District Council’s reluctance to combine the three polls at the same time, Mr Webb is now considering triggering a parish poll on the Clowne Garden Village scheme before May 2.

He stated: “Without debating the merits of the planning application, it is fair to say we won’t struggle getting the parish poll approved in terms of calling the meeting, voting on a question and triggering the parish poll.”

Mr Webb also argued there would have been savings to the parish and district councils if the proposed poll was allowed to take place during elections on May 2 with just one extra vote for people to consider at the polling stations.

However, Bolsover District Council’s Director of Governance and Monitoring Officer Jim Fieldsend stated in a reply to Mr Webb that the prescribed times for parish polls are 4pm to 9pm and differ from the Mayoral and PCC election polling times of 7am to 10pm and could cause confusion and this is unlikely to be accepted by the returning officers.

Mr Fieldsend also explained that parish polls are aimed at merely obtaining the opinion of a parish and that the result is not legally binding.

He added that parish polls can be requested by either ten electors or one third of electors present and by voting at a parish meeting but postal votes or voting by proxy are not allowed.

Parish polls involve voting by marking an X in either a yes or no answer box to a question on a ballot paper and the results are posted on district council websites and parish council websites and district and parish council notice boards, according to Mr Fieldsend.

Mr Fieldsend said that district councils recharge the relevant parish or town council for the estimated cost of around £6,000 for parish polls.

Mr Webb who has been pushing for a Judicial Review to challenge Bolsover District Council’s handling of the residential planning application says he has also written to the Secretary of State for the Home Department to consider the progress of the proposed Clowne Garden Village scheme.

He has claimed when an original application was submitted after 2017 it did not match the district council’s Local Plan ^[2] at that time and after the application was delayed it was then allegedly included prejudicially in the subsequent 2020 Local Plan which would support its progress.

The district council has provided comprehensive explanations and a timeline claiming the proposed development has always been part of the Local Plan since 2016 and it has insisted that consideration of the planning application will continue.

Mr Webb has also argued the release of Green Belt land from preservation to allow for the development was also allegedly unlawful because he claims there were no special circumstances to do this and this land should be returned to Green Belt protection.

But the district council has stated that following a robust review “exceptional circumstances” were legally cited allowing the removal of this area from Green Belt preservation.

The district council has stated it has to meet housing and affordable housing targets because of nationwide shortages and there is a strategy to expand Clowne and this site could involve a progressive 20-year long process.

Clowne Garden Village Action Group campaigners, from Clowne and Barlborough, have previously raised concerns about the development’s possible impact on highways and existing services, the loss of countryside and wildlife, as well as fears about drainage, flooding and overcrowding.

Bolsover MP Mr Fletcher has also claimed the housing scheme could increase the population of the area by nearly 50 per cent and that the amount of actual affordable housing will be negligible.

The council has stated that it is considering all submissions and concerns including the possible impact on the road network, the environment, flooding and the use of Green Belt land being freed-up for exempted-use.

Waystone has also stated there is support for the scheme in terms of the potential for economic growth, facilities and jobs.

The council has stressed it is continuing to deal with the planning application for the proposed housing development between the two Derbyshire ^[3] villages, north of Clowne including part of the village centre off Hickinwood Lane, in accordance with legislation and guidance and it will be submitted to a future planning committee for consideration.

Mr Webb added Clowne Garden Village Action Group would not be looking to trigger a parallel parish poll in nearby Barlborough about the housing scheme after learning about new expected highway changes at the Treble Bob roundabout and with the Junction 30 M1 motorway circular plans.

References

^{^} Visit Shots! now (www.shotstv.com)
^{^} Local Plan (www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk)
^{^} Derbyshire (www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk)