South Derbyshire’s Local Plan

8th December 2022 update

South Derbyshire District Council (SDDC) has this week completed the first phase of its consultation on a new “Local Plan” for its District.   They have sought views (via a questionnaire with around 150 questions) on “Options” to help them form a draft of a new Plan.  This is primarily a “big picture/framing” exercise at this stage.  Once completed in December 2024 the Plan will set out how development within the District will be managed.  The current Local Plan (which will remain active until the new plan is approved) was adopted in November 2017.  As SDDC’s progresses its work, the Parish Council will continue to review any areas that we believe could have a material effect on our Parish (the geographic boundary of which can be found on the Church Broughton website).  We are keen to get your input and views, and will seek them at the right time.  SDDC’s timetable is set out below.

In the interim, before we are all able to review the new draft plan in June next year, I’d make the following observations on what the Options Consultation suggests are likely to be the main areas of interest for our Parish :

  • The Dove Valley business park will remain one of the major areas for further business/industrial development in the District.  Its full extent is shown in the map below.  You can see that there is scope for a much larger activity area than exists today, given the allocated land for further Eastwards expansion.  Aside from the site’s actual footprint, the business park’s extension may bring further “heavy vehicle movement” implications for the roads in the Parish and, in particular, Woodyard Lane, Ashbourne Road, Heath Top and Broughton Heath Road.  I know this is already an area of concern, based on current traffic movements today.
  • The nearest large housing development to us is on the North-East side of Hatton.  It has an allocation for 400 new houses in the area shown below.
  • Church Broughton will remain classified as a “Rural Village” with a very tight “settlement boundary” (around the existing housing).   Almost all the other parts of the Parish (including the area immediately outside of Church Broughton’s defined settlement boundary) are classified as “Rural Areas”.  As such, almost all of the Parish is likely to remain at the very lowest level for further development.  The approval constraints and protections within the District’s current Local Plan are likely to continue.
  • The questionnaire shows that SDDC increasingly wants to “codify” (through the formal planning policies that its issues and updates) its approach to sustainable development (for both Business, Retail and Residential properties) and the policies it eventually adopts will influence all future development in our Parish.