Over 180 local residents recently attended a meeting in Inkersall regarding plans for 350 new homes on Bamford Road. Serious issues were raised around the impact it would have on the roads in the area, the suitability of Bamford Road for an increase in traffic and construction vehicles, the threat to nature, on-site pollution and many other concerns. It was good to so many people coming together and politicians from different parties working together.
The day after this meeting I met with the land developer, Gladman Developments, at the site, to learn more about the plans they have submitted to the Council. Gladman do not at this stage own the site, and so are acting on behalf of the landowner and have submitted an outline planning application for the site, with the hopes of marketing the site to a developer, who would, if outline permission was received, develop more detailed plans. In the future, the developer would need to apply for full planning permission, once they have developed detailed plans for the development.
This means that many questions that would need to be answered at a later stage when the detailed plans were submitted, however, I was able to glean answers to some questions raised by residents at the public meetings.
During my meeting with Gladman, they explained that the site would have two entrances, one across from the entrance to Riber Close and another across from Westwood Close, with an emergency entrance on West Croft Drive. Their plans also have a pedestrian and cycle entrance at the bottom of the hill, where the Trans Pennine Trail joins Bamford Road.
Gladman believe that the green spaces and improved hedgerows they have included in their plans will increase the biodiversity of the site. However that will be a matter for the Council’s ecologist to consider. Nature concerns should be included in any letters of objection. Gladman told me that the land is classed as Grade 4 on the Agricultural Land Classification scale, which they say, means that the land is classed as ‘poor’ for agricultural purposes.
I urged Gladman to engage more with local residents regarding the objections raised to the development and I was told that this is something that they will be doing. There is considerable opposition to the principle and proposal of development on Bamford Road and it is important that those objections are based on fact, so that we can argue about that which is true, not that which is feared.
There will also need to be detailed explanation of how construction traffic would access the site given the narrowness of Bamford Road.
The site is known to have significant historic mining works underneath, but Gladman believe that whilst this would be material to the detailed planning application, they don’t expect it to be a major consideration at the outline planning stage. The site could be approved with conditions applied to ensuring the stability of the land at the later stage.
The number of housing developments around Inkersall have understandably caused concerns for local residents, who have raised legitimate issues around another planned development in the area. While we need more houses, both locally and nationally, these developments need to be in suitable areas, where infrastructure, such as schools, GP Surgeries and the highways network can service the new houses sufficiently.
The collective weight of traffic demand on Inkersall caused by the existing traffic and already under construction or approved plans will be a material concern for planners and for Derbyshire County Council, the highways authority.
The Bamford Road site is not in the current local plan, and as the new local plan is still at a fairly early stage, Gladman have submitted this ‘speculative’ application, rather than wait for the local plan to be consulted on.
Due to the considerable number of objections already submitted, the developer believe that it is unlikely that the Council will hear the outline planning application before the end of the year and Gladman believe it is unlikely that any properties would be built here before 2029, however it is important that any objections are submitted and considered asap.
I would therefore encourage any local residents, who have views on this development to submit them to the Chesterfield Borough Council’s Planning Department as soon as possible, as the Neighbour Consultation ends on 26 July 2026. You can do this on the Council’s Planning Portal at https://www.chesterfield.gov.uk/planningapplications or by writing to the Council’s Planning Department at the Town Hall, Rose Hill, Chesterfield, S40 1LP, quoting the Planning Application Number CHE/26/00493/OUT
