Full text:
REF: MORTON PARISH COUNCIL COMMENTS ON SITE PLAN, REF 45105 / 45912
LOCAL PLAN CONSIDERATIONS POTENTIAL MORTON HOUSING TO INCLUDE
STRATEGIC INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM, VITAL FOR ANY LARGE DEVELOPMENTS.
CURRENTLY TWO LOCAL AREAS OF LAND IDENTIFIED FOR POSSIBLE DEVELOPMENT
Morton Parish Council is opposed to any further large scale housing development in Morton on the grounds that:
further largescale development would change the essential character of Morton
the village does not have the social/community infrastructure needed to support further housing/population growth.
In the last 15 years or so Morton has grown by over 25% in size due to new house building, with the number of properties rising from approximately 500 in 2010 to nearer 650 in 2026. The two sites subject to consultation would add in the region of 270 additional properties to the village, approximating to a 40% increase on the current size of Morton and amounting to a near doubling in the size of the village since 2010.
Such a rapid increase is changing the nature of the community from the small ex-mining village with a strong sense of community, that traditionally has best described Morton. Morton was a linear shaped village that followed the B6014, with a church, a pub, and village hall at its centre. Recent housing developments have intruded further into the countryside, ending that linear shape, and the village now also faces the prospect of a large solar farm and battery storage facility in close proximity to the most recent housing development at Padley Wood View.
The age profile of residents is older than the English average, with over 20% of residents aged 65 and over. The general health of village residents is worse than the English average and 22.9% of residents report having a disability, a significantly higher figure than the English average.
Although the village may have grown in size, its community infrastructure has failed to keep pace. Indeed, in many respects it has got worse. Whilst the village has a Post Office, it only opens part-time and could not be described as a traditional village shop, selling little in terms of food or groceries. Whilst planning permission was granted to convert part of the Corner Pin public house into a shop, the conversion work has yet to commence and in any event the location of that premises is not ideal given that it is at the extreme eastern end of the village. Consequently, the community must travel to undertake even a basic shop, with by far the most preferred location for shopping being Clay Cross.
The village has no public transport links, the last bus service ended in March 2025, and there is currently no prospect of a replacement service being introduced. The nearest bus stops involve a walk over farm fields to Stonebroom, or to the junction of the B6014 and Stonebroom Lane, or along the busy B6014 to the A61, which is without a footway or streetlighting for much of its route. All involve a walk more than a mile for most residents.
There is no doctor's surgery or dentist in the village. The local secondary school is at Tibshelf, and the primary school is already too small and unable to admit all primary aged pupils living in Morton. As of 2025, the Primary School PAN (Pupil Admission Number) was 12, with a capacity of 84 pupils and an upper capacity of 102 pupils. The projected number of pupils at the school for the next 5 years averaged in the mid to high nineties, meaning that the school is always above its normal capacity. Anecdotal evidence from parents in the village suggest that many struggle to find a place for their child at the school, especially for a child moving into the village. The S106 funding from the Padley Wood View development was inadequate to fund the new classroom that was needed at the school and so rather than losing the funding it has been used to create a new nursery space. Derbyshire County Council's S106 guidance suggests that a development of 270 properties would result in 68 additional primary aged pupils in the village, the equivalent of two new classrooms. In addition, DCC would expect an additional 49 secondary school students and 19 post-16 students, all of whom would need places at existing educational establishments. Students attending college generally travel to Chesterfield and there is minimal employment in Morton itself. Consequently, with no public transport links all these journeys involve use of private vehicles, and 270 new properties would add significantly more car journeys to the local road network. The B6014 as it travels eastwards from the church is to all intents and purposes a single carriageway with no formal passing points for much of its length through the village due to the lack of off-street parking for the terraced properties that line Main Road.
The village leisure and recreational facilities have hardly changed in the last decade, other than the addition of a small children's play area on the Padley Wood View development. Whilst the Parish Council has plans to bring back into use a former sports pitch behind the village hall, to add to the recreation site off New Street, funding for any project is beyond the means of the parish council to pay for out of its precept income and relies on grant funding.
This lack of infrastructure impacts on the sustainability of any further housing development. Looking at the two sites subject to consultation, the Parish Council has the following comments:
REF site 45105 Land off Stretton Road (approximately 130 houses)
Site 45105 involves a further intrusion into the countryside and is outside of the current settlement development limit of the village.
The site is bounded by the Medieval Morton Park to the north and the former Morton Isolation Hospital, now Morton Grange Residential Care Home, to the west. A feature of the Isolation Hospital and, therefore, of its place in Morton is that it was set-aside from the rest of the village. Development of this land would end that distinctive feature, creating a continuation of housing development all the way along the B6014 Stretton Road to the curtilage of the hospital/care home buildings.
This site has an history of water flooding from it onto the B6014, Stretton Road. When the neighbouring Padley Wood View development was built, residents living opposite on Stretton Road suffered from ponding in their gardens due to water running off that site and the land subject to this proposal. Whilst recent remedial work to improve surface drainage may have resolved this issue, anecdotal evidence from residents suggests that water still ponds on the most southeasterly corner of this site, close to the boundary with Birch Street. There is also anecdotal evidence to suggest that water draining away from the SUD on the Padley Wood View site into nearby water courses beyond the properties on the southern side of the A6014 is responsible for water ponding issues in the gardens through which it traverses. Similarly, the properties at Oak View Gardens suffered with flooding/ponding issues caused by water draining from site 45105 when built a decade ago and a half ago.
Access to the site would be problematic and quite restrictive. Vehicles entering the village from the A61 repeatedly do so in excess of the speed limit, and often fail to slow down until well into Morton. The pedestrian crossing point installed on the B6014 as part of the Padley Wood View development was approved without a site visit and failed to take account of the dip in the land at that location, causing a blind spot where young/small people crossing the road cannot be seen by drivers travelling into the village from Stretton. That has already resulted in at least one accident to a child and has seen additional roadside signage installed to mitigate the highway risk.
The land north of the site was subject to a planning application for a solar array and battery storage facility. Although refused by NEDDC's Planning Committee, that decision was appealed by the applicant and the outcome of the appeal is unknown at the time of this submission. If granted it would mean that this north west quartile of the village would have gone from an area of coalfield farm land to a heavily developed area. The site is bisected by pylons which are likely to be unaffected by the National Grids pylon upgrade programme.
REF site 45912 Fields south of Malby Avenue and Oakview Gardens (approximately 140 houses)
This site is also outside of the current Settlement Gap Limit of the village and involves a substantial intrusion into the countryside.
The area is open countryside, grassed farmed, with historic hedgerows. Anecdotal comments from residents suggest that parts of the site are subject to water ponding during periods of heavy rainfall.
A development on this site would be out of character with rest of the south western edge of the village, extending well into the countryside and narrowing the current settlement gap with Mickley, where site 45850 is less than 450m from site 45912
Access to the site is unclear from the consultation information and may be challenging for a development of this scale. Whilst a hammerhead exists off Malby Avenue, access to a development of this scale using Sitwell Villas and Maltby Avenue would be inappropriate. The current access to the site via Oakview Gardens is restricted to the south by the existing attenuation pond and would be beneath high voltage pylons. The strip of land to the east of the attenuation pond that currently gives access to the site is used as an access for farm vehicles and to the back of property number 85 Stretton Road, where heavy plant equipment is stored. It is part of the Oakview Gardens development and residents make an annual payment towards its upkeep and maintenance. Either way, access would be off the B6014 Stretton Road and, therefore, subject to the same issues as site 45105. Indeed, were both sites to be included in the final draft of the Local Plan the cumulative impact would be significant on the local road network and on highway safety.
Proposals for the Draft Local Plan
Whilst objecting to development on both sites, the Parish Council would request that the Draft Local Plan would include measures to:
1. Prevent any merging of Morton with neighbouring villages by:
- Extending the Local Settlement Gap designation between Morton and Stonebroom.
- Introducing a Local Settlement Gap designation to the land south of Oakview Gardens/Sitwell Villas to prevent any merging of Morton and Mickley.
2. The land north of site 45105 is subject to an appeal following NEDDCs refusal of planning permission for a solar array and battery storage facility. Should that appeal be dismissed, that land should receive a designation that prevents a future application for a large scale solar array in such close proximity to existing housing, thereby recognising the outcome of that appeal, and the creation of a Local Settlement Gap designation to prevent further north ward drift of development in that area of the village. Should the appeal be allowed, land usage designations should be introduced to prevent a future expansion of that solar array site.
3. Protect and preserve the historic nature of Morton Isolation Hospital/Morton Grange by preventing it merging into any new development to its east, and prevent future development to its west
4. Recognises the rapid increase in the size of Morton village due to recent housing development and the lack of infrastructure to sustain any future large-scale house building. In particular, that it recognises the inadequacy of primary school provision, recreational facilities, the lack of a village shop, and lack of public transport.
