Amber Valley Borough Council is developing the policies that will shape the future of our Borough.
These policies will be partly guided by national and regional requirements, but there is plenty of scope
for addressing the community’s needs, so let us know what YOU think.
We are seeking to involve you at the earliest stage in this process,
so please fill in our online ISSUES AND IDEAS paper.
It would be appreciated if this form can be returned by 30 November 2008
Snapshot of Amber Valley
Amber Valley covers an area of over 265 square kilometres and is made up of the four market towns of Alfreton, Belper, Heanor and Ripley, as well as many villages and other smaller settlements. The majority of the Borough’s 120,000 residents live in the four market towns, all of which have experienced economic and social difficulties as a result of the decline of their traditional industries. However, Belper has benefited from its location within the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site and has seen considerable investment through new housing and environmental improvements, as well as becoming increasingly attractive for tourism.
Amber Valley benefits from having good transport connections to other parts of the country. The A38 links the Borough to Derby to the south and to the M1 (junction 28) to the north, whilst the A610 links to Nottingham and the M1 (junction 26) to the south east. The Borough is also well served by the national rail network, with local services to Derby and Nottingham as well as limited direct services to London and other parts of the country.
The Borough’s accessibility makes it an attractive location for commuters, as well as opening up opportunities for shopping and leisure activities in other towns and cities. The decline in the Borough’s traditional industrial base has also led to former employment sites being redeveloped for housing, increasing patterns of out-commuting.
Whilst unemployment levels remain lower than national and regional averages, this masks pockets of higher unemployment, particularly in the eastern wards within Alfreton, Heanor and adjoining settlements.
The Borough’s attractive and diverse landscape, architecture and important heritage features enable many of those living and working in Amber Valley to benefit from a high quality environment. However, other parts of the Borough have suffered from the impact of past land uses and activities on the environment and a balance must be struck between encouraging new development and protecting the environment.
The Borough Council will seek to address these challenges and take advantage of the opportunities through the following key documents:
Community Strategy
The Amber Valley Partnership Sustainable Community Strategy, which is developed by members of the partnership including the Primary Care Trust and Derbyshire County Council, sets out the long term vision and priorities for improving the quality of life in the Borough.
Core Strategy
This document is the first stage in the preparation of a Core Strategy Development Plan Document (DPD). The Core Strategy is the key spatial planning document for the whole of the Borough. It will need to take account of:
- any changes in the strategic objectives and priorities of the Council and its key partners, including those of the Amber Valley Sustainable Community Strategy
- the emerging Regional Spatial Strategy for the East Midlands (RSS8), (The Regional Plan) which is expected to be adopted around the turn of the year
In producing the Core Strategy, Amber Valley must address cross-boundary issues with neighbouring authorities. These include:
- The need forAmber Valley Borough Council and South Derbyshire District Council to provide new housing development on the edges of the built up area of Derby and additional secondary education facilities to serve this development
- The need to provide new strategic retail distribution centres in the East Midlands
The Emerging East Midlands Regional Plan defines a number of Housing Market Areas (HMAs) across the East Midlands. HMAs are groupings of local planning authority areas. Amber Valley, Derby City and South Derbyshire make up the Derby HMA. All three of these authorities together with Derbyshire County Council are working closely together in producing Core Stategies.
