Petition launched to stop 116 houses being built on Hogshaw

Barratt Homes wants to build 116 homes on the land at Hogshaw however a petition has already been launched to stop the development.

Jacky Palmer, from campaign group Friends of Hogshaw and petition starter, said: “The flood mitigation proposed in the planning application is only concerned with mitigating the flood risk to the 116 properties, while ignoring the increased risk to downstream properties on Lightwood Road, Lightwood Avenue, Hogshaw Villas, Brooklands, Charles Street, Ash Terrace, Holmwood Terrace, Hogshaw Avenue.”

She said properties on these streets have suffered major flooding incidents in 1973, 1998, 2011 and 2019.

Barratt Homes have bought 13.5 acres of greenfield land with the intention of building 116 homes on the site.

If approved there will be 81 three-bed homes, 24 four-bed homes and 10 two-bed homes.

The development has been a controversial one because High Peak Borough Council originally allocated Hogshaw as well as land near Granby Road on the other side of the A6 as part of its local plan to meet Government house-building targets.Crucially, Hogshaw’s two-acre recreation ground – on the former tip – was not included in High Peak Borough Council’s 2016 Adopted Local Plan for housing development.

This led to protests in the street and demonstrations when people realised it had been added to the plans.

The council then made a U-turn and said the recreation land would not be used for development.

However, the site is still a worry to many who fear a large-scale housing development will increase floods for nearby residents.

Councillor Rachael Quinn said: “I view this application with great concern because of the danger that the flooding issues in the area, already high risk, will be increased.

“The proposals as they stand will not be sufficient to cope with the increased run off of water that could/ will lead to the flooding of the area.

“There is also a substantial risk there will be flooding further along the watercourse. This is already an area with a high risk.

“The mitigation provided would need to be a lot more substantial. There is also an issue with the problem of increased traffic on Fairfield Road, where there is already an issue with air quality, I see no effort to combat this issue.”

Speaking in a supporting statement submitted with the application Barratt Homes said: “The delivery of new housing on an allocated site, and in an accessible location has economic benefits in the form of new direct and indirect employment opportunities during the construction stage, and also throughout the lifetime of the development through increased household spending in Buxton and the local area.

“There will also be ecological benefits, in the form of measurable net gains in biodiversity and the development would give the provision of a segregated bridleway to form a section of the White Peak Loop.

“The application should be approved without delay.

The application is open for public consultation until July 6 and comments can be made on the council’s website at http://planning.highpeak.gov.uk/portal/servlets/ApplicationSearchServlet?PKID=261190.

To sign the petition visit: https://www.change.org/p/oppose-barratt-housing-plan-at-hogshaw-that-will-increase-flood-risk-to-our-homes