CHELLASTON BUSINESS PARK AND THE T12 LINK ROAD

IMPORTANT:  Please see latest update below

Chellaston Business Park is a proposed development situated between west Chellaston and Wilmore Road, Sinfin.  The development will be a partnership between Wilson Bowden Developments and Miller Birch, supported by the East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA).  The team will also comprise: SGP (Architects and Master Planners), BWB (Engineers) and Indigo Planning (Planners).
The site and its link road have been in the local plan for many years and is seen by the council as being strategically important for employment and prosperity in the area.
The proposals are for a mixed use business park, including a hotel,  with a new link road (T12) between the edge of west Chellaston housing estate and Wilmore Road.
Pre-application consultation is on-going and an application was scheduled to be submitted to the council in Oct/Nov last year.  Work on site was expected to start mid 2009. However, we understand that there has been no formal application to the Council to date (March 2009). The link road will be the first thing to be built, to provide the infrastructure for the site.

Update (Nov 09):  Developers Wilson Bowden have told us that they are due to restart discussions with Planners at Derby City Council.  They have assured us that dialogue will take place between them and the CRA when their plans have been finalised.

Extract from Derby City Local Plan
Business Park Site
Site Master Plan

The link road has been long awaited by Chellaston residents who live close to the A514, but the single carriageway section of Holmleigh Way is simply not suitable for carrying the projected traffic, in particular, HGVs.  Its closeness to residents' property and children's play areas are seen as seen as specific areas of concern.

The CRA is supporting residents likely to be adversely affected by the unsuitable existing single carriageway section of Holmleigh Way (the route of the T12).  A group of residents have been proactive and has already sent a letter to Councillors, Mark Todd MP, Derby City Council and EMDA.  Read the letter here

Following a recent committee meeting, it was decided that the CRA should send comments on the proposal to the City Council, echoing the concerns of the local residents.  This can be viewed here.  Residents in other parts of Chellaston should not be complacent.  As it stands, the main entrance to the Business Park (and the through road to Sinfin) will be via Holmleigh Way.  But there is potential for rat running down Parkway and through the estate.  The proposals being put forward by the CRA would prevent this. 

The public exhibition for the Business Park and T12 was held on Friday 27th and Saturday 28th June 2008. 

The CRA tabled questions to the full Council Meeting on Wednesday 10th September 2008 and a good number of people attended to give their support.  The questions can be read here.
You can view and listen to the questions and answers by typing the following in to your browser and going to the 'full council meeting 10th September 2008':

If you wish to fast forward to the relevant point, go forward to 47 minutes. 

Lucy Care, Cabinet Member for Planning and Transportation  and Council Planning Officials offered to meet with our representatives to discuss the issues raised.

At this meeting, it was stated that the planning application had to have detailed projections of traffic along this road.  They advised that until the Developer submits his planning Application, they cannot do anything, but that once received, they would be doing the required appraisals against the Local Plan, standards etc. They were unable to explain why there are differences in considerations for Public Protection between the arrangements at Pride Park and those indicated along Holmleigh Way. They did state that it was for the Developer to assess the impacts along Holmleigh Way and that this was not a ‘Given’ for the Developer.

IMPORTANT UPDATE (DEC 2010)

Since the outline planning permission for the development is due to expire in the near future, Wilson Bowden have re-applied to the Council (Applications ref:  DER/11/10/01385, 6 and 7) for permission to extend the period, but there are major changes from that  put forward in 1998.

Originally, the plan was for 66 hectares of 'high technology' manufacturing and R&D.  This changed in 2002 to 86.8 hectares with some warehousing (class B8).  This latest application is for 98ha with around 50% being warehousing.  Warehousing results in increased HGV traffic 24/7.  This would be in addition to the through traffic to Rolls Royce and the Sinfin warehousing facilities.  There would be no restriction on the use of Holmleigh Way and congestion along the route could result in rat-running along Parkway, leading to even greater problems for the A514.

Both the developers and the Council are saying that Holmleigh Way is designed for the traffic that will flow along it.  However, the Noise Assessment refers to a "significant shift of proportions" in relation to the B8 use and states that actual noise levels cannot be computed due to lack of data re HGV traffic.  They report that as a minimum, there will be an "adverse impact of substantial significance" on the residents on and around Holmleigh Way.  But the report then goes on to say that all the houses have noise reducing glazing and that everyone knew about the business park when they bought their houses.  We know of no-one who has the noise reducing glazing and, yes, most people did know about a 66ha high tech business park, but not of a major warehousing complex.

To date, no-one has been prepared to look at alternatives that would alleviate the potential problems along the route.  Two alternatives are :
 - New access off the A50 at Lowes Lane
 - Parallel access to Holmleigh Way
There is still time to give these alternatives serious consideration, but there needs to be a response from the people of west Chellaston to the proposals.

There is much detail to go through in the planning applications and resident Gary Crisp has summarised the main points for objection in this document.  Objections, comments or letters of support had to be lodged with the Council by 16th December 2010. 

UPDATE OCTOBER 2011

David Ward of Wilson Bowden attended the Neighbourhood Forum on 13th October to give an update on the planning application.  He said that additional information was required by various agencies to support the application.  When asked when the project was likely to start, he said that it was on hold until there is a recovery in the economy.  He went on to say that it would take 10-15 years to complete.

UPDATE FEB 2012

Derby City Council has been given £40m from the government, some of which will be used to build the T12.  This money has to be spent within a relatively short period of time, so the Council will be looking to start construction in the near future.

Important note regarding the CRA's position with respect to the T12

Chellaston Residents' Association (and indeed many people in west Chellaston) support the T12 road.  The residents who live along the A514 have been waiting for it for many years.  However, the existing single carriageway section of Holmleigh Way is not suitable for the traffic being proposed.  Yes, most residents were aware of some form of business park when they bought their houses, but the scheme has grown and the park will now have warehousing resulting in 24/7 HGV traffic.  This, together with the through HGV traffic to and from Sinfin will result in a problem comparable with that now encountered on the A514 (or possibly even worse).  We do not believe that this is acceptable and it is not too late to incorporate changes to the road system to bring about continued quality of life to those along the road, whilst taking some of the traffic from the village centre.  We are here to represent all Chellaston residents -  north, south, east, west, and the village centre.  We are here to make Chellaston a better place to live (and work).  If we can support a sensible cause, we will.  The T12 issue is one example. We are attempting to broker a dialogue between those affected and developer / council.  The last thing that we want to happen is that funding is lost due to intransigence.