Mixed messaging on World Heritage Buffer Zone

Recent contradictory rulings mean many Belper locals remain angry.

On 29^th July 2020, a planning application for 65 dwellings was allowed by the Secretary of State on land adjacent to Whitehouse Farm, 153 Belper Lane, Hilltop, Belper. This application had been subject to much objection from the local community with major concerns of the impact on the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site and its landscape setting.

An earlier application for 118 dwellings was refused at committee on the grounds that the proposal was harmful to the Outstanding Universal Value of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site as the development of the land would result in the erosion of the rural landscape of the arrested industrial development. This decision was upheld on appeal. CPRE Derbyshire had objected to this earlier large application on landscape impact grounds.

The Appeal Inspectors considered that the new proposal would still constitute an extension of the existing built-up area. However, the Secretary of State considered that the benefits of the appeal scheme to deliver new housing were enough to outweigh what he called ‘less than substantial’ harm to the Derwent Valley Mills heritage site, stating that the effect on landscape itself would be limited.

Local residents remained angry at the decision, especially in view of a recent call on the Far Laund development nearby, where the Secretary of State did decide that the harmful effect on the World Heritage Site outweighed the benefits of additional housing.