CASE STUDY
Expert Witness
North East Derbyshire, UK
Project Type
Examination in Public
Client
North East Derbyshire District Council
Location
Wingerworth, Derbyshire, UK
Keywords
- Green Belt review
- Sheffield City Region
- SA and HRA
- Peak District National Park
Local Plan examination support for North East Derbyshire District Council.
North East Derbyshire wraps around Chesterfield and extends northwards towards Sheffield. As such there is a complex functional and physical relationship between different parts of the district and areas outside the District in both Derbyshire and South Yorkshire. The west of the District is largely rural and forms part of the eastern edge of the Peak District National Park. The District comprises the four main towns of Clay Cross, Dronfield, Eckington and Killamarsh, together with a number of large and small villages, and hamlets set within attractive countryside settings.
The Local Plan vision sets out how the Plan area will develop by 2034:
“By 2034, everyone in North East Derbyshire will enjoy a high quality of life, with residents, businesses and visitors all benefitting from what the District has to offer.” The District will have accommodated sustainable growth whilst the distinct character of different areas and communities will have continued to be preserved and promoted, creating safe, integrated and healthy communities.
Lepus was instructed to attend and support the Council at Examination in Public having prepared all of the supporting SA and HRA work leading up to the Examination. SA is an important legal dimension of the EiP process and the approach taken was explained to the Inspector and clarifications were provided in relation to the story of the Local Plan. Full explanation was given of the reasonable alternatives that were identified, described and evaluated through the SA process. This included the housing number, spatial options and site selection.
The SA process had also included assessment of a number of Green Belt parcels that had been identified by the Council. This process was also carefully scrutinised by the Planning Inspector since the release of Green Belt is a complex and very sensitive matter.
