IMPACT OF NEW NATIONAL PLANNING POLICY ON BELPER’S MEADOWS EDGE
OPEN LETTER TO AMBER VALLEY BOROUGH COUNCIL
Belper Civic Forum welcomes the government’s new PPS4 policy covering town centre development, which came into force in December. This is the endorsement AVBC needed to strengthen the draft Development Brief for the Meadows Edge (ER1c) site before it is adopted. Now Tesco (the principal landowner), or whoever develops this edge of the town, must maximise the opportunity of the site for Belper and ensure that the existing retail centre is given the boost it needs. And Amber Valley must provide their own independent evidence of need and benefit.
Thanks to PPS4 Meadows Edge will now be regarded as ‘Edge of Centre ’ for retail, not ‘Town Centre’ as currently designated – PPS4 supersedes the Local Plan. Any new shopping will have to be convincingly connected to King Street and specifically not sited on the other side of an obstruction to pedestrian movement such as a busy road.
The ER1c site is allocated for a MIXED USE development in Amber Valley’s Local Plan. The Civic Forum has always questioned the assumption that mixed used should be retail-led. PPS4 has confirmed that other options should also be considered and councils ‘should work with stakeholders to promote new development of the right scale, in the right place, at the right time’.
The great loss to Belper over the past 20 years has been in the industrial sector and we believe that a net increase in quality employment should be paramount in deciding on preferred uses. Belper has the one of the highest rates of business start-ups in the County, but firms have to move out of town to develop. Belper was founded on industry and innovation and this is what we are a World Heritage Site for - let's leave our children a legacy of good jobs and exciting prospects.
Find PPS4 on www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/planningpolicystatement4
Janet Honey (Chair, Belper Civic Forum)