NEDDC Local Plan Issues and Options Consultation on the Strategic Approach to the Location of Development and Refined Sites (March 2026)

The council makes the following comments on the proposed allocation at Prospect House, Highstairs Lane (45110)

1. Protection of trees

There are TPOs relating to trees on the site and the council is conscious that various planning restrictions were put in place for the neighbouring development at Highstairs Lane for the protection of the trees (including ongoing planning restrictions on works to the gardens of the now built homes). Should land parcel 45110 be allocated, it is considered that similar provisions would be required to protect the trees on site.

2. Lack of amenity in Stretton and community benefits

There is a general lack of amenity in Stretton, with the only shop being the petrol garage, no education facilities and no playground. The only community asset is the Village Hall, which is owned and run separately to the parish council. Should the proposed site be allocated, the council would like an assurance that planning obligations (through a s.106 or otherwise) would be used to ensure that the development brings some community benefit. The council is particularly conscious that the s106 agreement for the now built neighbouring development was unenforceable and therefore the community benefits that should have been delivered as part of that development have not been delivered. The council strongly objects to any further development unless community benefits can be secured and realised. Given the lack of amenity land in Stretton (the parish council owns no land), it is suggested that the local plan should include land set aside for amenity purposes.

3. Access
The council is concerned regarding access into the development and questions whether Highstairs Lane can accommodate the additional traffic movements that the development would bring. The section of Highstairs Lane leading to Smithy Moor is narrow and unable to accommodate large traffic numbers.

4. A61 traffic

The A61 is already a busy road with frequent speeding and traffic collisions. The council is concerned that additional traffic as a result of the development would exacerbate these issues and needs to be properly assessed.

5. Landscape

The council notes that a landscape assessment has not yet taken place. The council considers this to be crucial, particularly given that there is a clear change in landscape character between the east and west of the A61. The proposed allocation to the west, and over the brow of the hill, would encroach into the landscape character of the area west of the A61, which is more rural. The council is keen to ensure that built development does not result in detrimental landscape and visual effects given the more rural character of Highstairs Lane towards the west.

Stretton Parish Council objects to Clay Cross South : 46050 for the reasons set out below.

1. Coalescence

The proposed allocation encroaches on the local settlement gap between Stretton and Clay Cross. SS11: Local Settlement Gaps of the adopted local plan provides that developments within such areas will be permitted where they: maintain the functionality and undeveloped character of the local settlement gap; do not result in the coalescence of historically distinct settlements; and do not result in the erosion of existing settlement separation and identity created by the undeveloped character of those spaces.

The proposed allocation of this area for around 700 houses would not meet the above tests. It would effectively link Stretton and Clay Cross, which are historically distinct settlements, and the village of Stretton would lose its identity as a separate settlement from its larger neighbour.

Further, the parish council considers that Stretton’s identity should be considered in the wider context of the parish boundaries. As a parish, Stretton is linked to Woolley Moor, Smithy Moor and Handley and part of its identity is the link to those villages. Development of site 46050 would link Stretton to Clay Cross and the council is concerned that this would erode the identity and relationship the village has with other parts of the parish.

The parish council notes that the settlement gap is due to be reviewed to consider whether the settlement gap is still appropriate for the site. For the reasons set out above, the parish council considers the settlement gap to be crucial to protecting the identity of Stretton and the council submits that any review should seek to strengthen the settlement gap between Stretton and Clay Cross by extending further into the fields each side of the A61.

Further, the parish council notes that the housing land availability assessment had assessed parcels of site 46050 both separately and together. Of the separate sites, the only ones that were RAG rated amber were sites ID 45422 and 45018 and all other parts of the site were rated red (and therefore unsuitable for development, when assessed alone). It appears that landscape and transport constraints identified can only be overcome for site 46050 if the area closest to the A61 (and therefore in the local settlement gap) is developed. The parish council therefore questions the suitability of the site as a whole, given its above objections to development within the settlement gap. The parish council notes the summary comments for site 46050 that landscape impacts could be mitigated by only allowing an access road in the area covered by the settlement gap. However, this would result in the remainder of the development being a linear development into the countryside, which is noted as one of the reasons that the separated parcels of the site (for instance site ID 45421) were rated red for landscape constraints in the housing land availability assessment. Therefore the parish council submits that this reasoning needs to be checked and validated.

Finally, the parish council notes more widely that housing allocations have been proposed along the A61 from Stretton all the way to the Wingerworth roundabout. If all of the proposed allocations were to be adopted in the new local plan, there would be continuous development along the A61, which has wider implications on Stretton as a distinct settlement.

2. Landscape

The parish council is concerned about the extended views from the A 61 onto the proposed allocation site, given the change in levels between the A61 and the proposed site.

3. Flooding issues

The site is prone to flooding with areas within Flood Zones 2 and 3 and areas at risk of surface water flooding. Given the requirements of the Sequential Test to locate development within areas at lower risk of flooding, the council is concerned that areas of the allocation site are unsuitable for housing development and those areas at high risk should be removed from the allocation area.

4. Historic use as an open cast mine

The parish council is concerned regarding the site’s suitability for development given its historic use for open cast mining (as noted on the British geological survey data). Local knowledge indicates that the ground was not remediated in a way that makes it suitable for development. Further ground engineering would be required to assess its suitability.

5. Traffic concerns on the A61

The A61 is already a busy road, with frequent instances of speeding and traffic collisions. The council is concerned that using the A61 as the main access to the proposed new allocation will place additional pressure on the road through increased traffic movements.

6. Lack of amenities

The council questions what amenities would be in place to support a development of this scale, particularly in the context of other proposed allocations in the area. With the ongoing development of the Biwaters site to the north of Clay Cross, the council is concerned that not enough protections are in place to ensure sufficient educational, recreational and health facilities are in place to accommodate the number of new residents. The consultation appears to be silent on this point, and it is suggested that, for an increase in houses at the scale proposed by the new local plan, a strategic assessment is required to understand how, and where, amenities will be provided to ensure the needs of the newly enlarged population can be met.

The council is particularly concerned about this for Site 46050 because there are no existing amenities in Stretton to support the development. There is no school, no shops (with the exception of the petrol station) and no play facilities.