Somercotes cattery owner fears having to close after industrial units approved

Amber Valley Council members have approved plans from Clowes Developments to build six large warehouses off Birchwood Way, Somercotes.

During the meeting, councillors voted against a call for a site visit, which Coun John McCabe, member for Somercotes, branded a ‘total disgrace for local democracy’.

A number of residents and councillors opposed the plans which will see industrial units up to 15 metres tall built near houses in Birchwood Way.

Rae Gee, a council planning officer, said the closest homes would be 55m from the nearest industrial unit, with the closest garden 40m away.

She said this was a ‘significant’ distance and earth bunding would be built and trees planted in the gap between the homes and industrial units.

However, Sarah Towndrow, who owns Birchwood Boarding Kennels and Cattery, adjacent to the site, feared she would have to close if the industrial units are approved.

She said any trees planted to obscure the units would take years to grow.

Ms Towndrow said: “I own a cattery on the western boundary and am worried for my business.

“I look after people’s cats and dogs and take care of them. How am I going to do that when this development is under construction for years on end and with chainsaws going cutting down trees.

“What do I do? Do I close, so this business can go ahead? It is a worrying time.”

Judy Mallaber, a Somercotes resident, said: “It is going to ruin that area. There is excessive housing and industrial use in the area and this will ruin the semi-rural feel of the area.”

Pamela Fabianska, a fellow Somercotes resident, said: “There is no need for this industrial site, it is development for the sake of development.

“A lot of older people and people with young children enjoy walking on this site. This is an asset in their neighbourhood.

“There are a lot of empty units on industrial estates in the area already and combining the industrial units with houses is excessive.”

Coun Jack Brown, member for Ironville & Riddings, said the proposal could cause a positive outcome if it was tweaked to allow HGVs driving to other industrial sites in the area to be taken off Birchwood Lane and through to the motorway without obstructing other traffic.

Michael Bamford, agent for the applicants, said that the principle of the application had been approved and it remains allocated in the council’s Local Plan, a blueprint for future development.

He said: “There is a significant need for employment land and this application will provide a lot of employment land.

“We have listened and changed the scheme, there is a biodiversity net gain. I understand that in plan form this does look close to houses, but it is a significant distance.”

Councillors voted to approve the scheme by six votes to four.

During the planning consultation, the scheme was reduced from seven warehouses to six and from 26,000 sq metres’ floor space to 19,652 sq metres, and the maximum height of the buildings dropped from 18 metres to 15.4 metres.