Plans for former High Peak College site in Buxton deferred again over flooding fears

In July 2019 members of High Peak Borough Council’s Development and Control Committee approved plans for 153 new homes on the old college campus in Harpur Hill.

A second application for amendments on the site then came before councillors in February 2021 when members again approved the application, subject to the Lead Local Flood Authority confirming they had no objection to the revised landscaping and drainage plans.

However, this information was not provided and the application was deferred, coming before the council in December 2021, when it was deferred again because the report had not arrived. It then came before councillors again on Monday, when the information was still missing, so it had to be deferred again.

Speaking after the meeting Councillor Stewart Young said: “We need to support the residents who already live next to this development.

"How can we approve something if we don’t have all the information to make decisions?

"It does seem silly to me this has been going on for almost three years and the applicant Persimmon Homes can’t even tell us how they will mitigate against flooding on the site.”

If approved the application would see several slightly larger properties being built on the site off Trenchard Drive, the removal of a detached garage on one property and semi detached bungalows being built on two plots.

However, development on the site has continued to progress before approval for the changes to the application has been granted.

Taller than planned retaining walls have been built by Persimmon Homes but due to the risk of flooding, residents fear the new wall could be put under too much pressure from flood water and is at risk of toppling over.

There are further fears the fence on top of the wall will be subject to strong winds and pose a safety risk, documentation for the application states.

Councillor Young added: "We were told we would have information on how drainage and flooding will be mitigated but it still hasn’t arrived so we couldn’t comfortably agree to the plans.

“Because of this insufficient information it was unanimously deferred by all councillors at the meeting until we have the relevant statements from the lead local flood authority.”

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