Support for affordable housing in North Wingfield

CPRE supports the application for the redevelopment of a former school in North Wingfield, on land south of 38 Chesterfield Road, that will provide affordable housing for local people and increased recreational areas.

At CPRE Derbyshire, our primary focus is to ensure that rural landscapes are protected, enhanced and promoted for both current and future generations.

CPRE wants everyone in the countryside to have a fair chance in life, which means including low-cost homes to buy and rent in our rural towns and villages.  We note that the applicant in the case proposes 100% affordable housing of mixed type and tenure, a welcome addition to the local housing stock.

Our policy for development in rural locations is one of “brownfield first” and it is good to see this former school site being utilised for the majority of the proposed housing.  Whilst we note that a proportion of the site to be developed for housing is on green field land, we feel that the provision of affordable housing and the community benefits of the much-improved recreational facilities are sufficient to outweigh this relatively small loss in this case.  We trust that the delivery of the full extent of planned additions and improvements to the recreational facilities will be suitably enshrined in robust conditions, should planning permission be granted.

In lending our support to this application, we do however share a number of consultees’ concerns about the plans for the affected section of North Wingfield Footpath 4.  We recognise the increasing importance of access to the countryside as a vital and valued means of supporting people’s health and wellbeing.  The footpath user’s experience would undoubtedly be diminished were the footpath in question to be diverted along the new road within the new housing and we would support others’ calls for the existing line of the footpath to be respected.