LATEST NEWS
Drop In Sessions
Residents and other stakeholders are invited to a series of drop in sessions to discuss with Planning Officers where they think future housing growth should go and how they want Amber Valley to change over the coming years.
Come and talk to us between 3pm and 7pm at the following locations:
Monday 1 March 2010, at the Christian Centre, Hall Street, Alfreton
Tuesday 2 March 2010, at Ripley Leisure Centre, Derby Road
Thursday 4 March 2010, at the Old Peoples Welfare Centre, Wilmot Street, Heanor
Friday 5 March 2010, at Belper Football Club
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.
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:
Sustainable Community Strategy
The Amber Valley Partnership Community Strategy 2006-2009 , which has been 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. A revision of the Strategy for the period 2009-2014 is currently taking place and consultation on this document has now ended. The comments received as a result of the consultation exercise are now being considered and a new Sustainable Community Strategy will be adopted shortly.
Planning Inspector's Early Engagement Visit
Amber Valley Borough Council, Derby City Council and South Derbyshire District Council have had an 'early engagement visit' from a Planning Inspector. The purpose of this visit was to discuss the approach we are taking to developing our Core Strategies and to identify areas for improvement.
Following his visit, the Inspector wrote a report setting out his findings. The report suggests ways that we can improve and deal with certain issues including the delivery of infrastructure and working with our partners both within and outside of the Borough. You can download the report from this page under Related Documents.
Amber Valley Core Strategy - Issues and Options Consultation
PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE WAS AN OMISSION ON PAGE 19 OF THE DOCUMENT WHEN IT WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON 15 JANUARY. THIS HAS NOW BEEN CORRECTED.
The Core Strategy will be the key document of our Local Development Framework (LDF) for Amber Valley. It will establish the vision, objectives and proposals for what sort of place we want Amber Valley to be by 2026. It will set out the main locations for new development and how this will be managed and will seek to address a range of issues facing Amber Valley. It will also set out the spatial policies to deliver the overall objectives and priorities of the Borough Council and its partners, as set out in the emerging Amber Valley Sustainable Community Strategy.
We have published a Draft Core Strategy Issues and Options consultation document to engage with partners, stakeholders and local residents before the preparation of a draft Core Strategy. The draft Core Strategy will be the subject of further consultation later this year.
We would like to know what you think about the emerging Vision, Strategic Objectives and Options that are outlined in the consultation document. This will help us ensure that the Core Strategy reflects the needs and wants of those who live in, work in and visit Amber Valley.
We are also working closely with Derbyshire County Council, South Derbyshire District Council and Derby City Council to address cross boundary issues arising in relation to the Core Strategy and consultation on similar documents is taking place concurrently with this consultation by Derby City Council and South Derbyshire District Council.
The Draft Core Strategy Issues and Options consultation document and a consultation response form are available to download by clicking on the links on this web page under Related Documents. The Issues and Options document is also available for inspection at the following venues from Monday 18 January:-
- Town Hall, Ripley (First Floor Reception)
Alfreton Library Alfreton Cash Office Belper Library Belper Cash Office Duffield Library Heanor Library Heanor Cash Office Ripley Library Somercotes Library during normal opening hours
Copies of consultation response forms are also available at these locations.
You can alternatively request a hard copy version of the Draft Core Strategy Issues and Options consultation document and/or a consultation response form by ringing (01773) 841584. A charge of £15 will be made for a copy of the Draft Core Strategy Issues and Options document.
It would be appreciated if any comments on this document are made using the consultation response form delivered by email to DevPol@ambervalley.gov.uk using the Word version of the form or in writing using the PDF version of the form to:-
The Community Planning Team
Amber Valley Borough Council
P.O. Box 18
Town Hall
Ripley
DE5 3SZ
to arrive by no later than 4.30 pm on Wednesday 31 March 2010
However, if you prefer to not use a response form, please state clearly that you are commenting on the 'Draft Core Strategy Issues and Options Paper' and indicate which issue or option you are referring to.
