'Peak District villages could become museums if new housing isn't approved'

Peak District villages could become “museums” if new housing is not approved, a councillor has warned. Cllr Peter O’Brien, who represents Eyam, Grindleford, Stoney Middleton and Hathersage on Derbyshire Dales District Council, made the claim during a meeting last night (November 21).

The council had been debating an upcoming new Local Plan for the Peak District National Park Authority, which would outline potential housing development in the area for the next few decades. Around half of the Derbyshire Dales population (33,000) and land mass (58 per cent) falls within the Peak District National Park, with the park authority having planning powers there, not the district council.

Cllr O’Brien said: “The lifeblood has been sucked out of many of our communities because many working families cannot find homes they can afford to buy or rent, so they have no choice but to vote with their feet. We are sleepwalking into a future where our villages become museum pieces, beautifully preserved, but that is about all.

“Market housing, housing to buy, is virtually banned in the National Park and I think we should ask ourselves why that is. Why is it totally out of order for new houses to be built in Grindleford, to be built in Eyam, to be built in Hathersage and Stoney Middleton for local people to buy? What damage is a sensibly designed, well-constructed new building that a local family in my village can buy? What damage is that going to do to the national park?

“We have to ask ourselves why the national park believes any new development is going to destroy the character of the national park? They complain that a new house is going to despoil the national park.

"They don’t seem to have a problem with thousands of lumps of metal (cars) disfiguring the park at weekends.” He said Peak District villages needed “nourishing” with new housing.

Current plans from the Peak District National Park Authority are not to earmark any specific sites for housing, as other local authorities such as the Dales do, but to instead detail some “exception sites” and allowances purely for “affordable housing” projects. It also looks to retain a policy where would-be buyers need to have had a local connection to the Peak District for 10 years to qualify for affordable housing.

Cllr O’Brien said this was not “realistic” and left people “having to live in expensive rented accommodation in order to prove their commitment to the community”. Cllr David Chapman, who is also a member of the Peak Park authority, said: “It is not strictly true that the Peak Park doesn’t encourage housing development.

“We have got the Bakewell development, the Hartington development, we’ve got the Tideswell development – a local needs development for 30 houses.” Cllr Steve Wain said: “They (the Peak Park) do need to get more positive about things.

"They do need to get more provision and coming from a small rural village myself, people do want to stay within the villages, they do want to be housed within the villages, whether that be families members that are downsizing and freeing up other properties or whether it be young family members that want to work in the community. We want to encourage the peak park to wake up and smell the coffee.”

Cllr Dermot murphy, who also sits on Peak Park authority, claimed members of its planning committee were “frequently” told “we are not a housing authority”, saying: “It is quite frustrating, they are quite set in their ways.” Cllr Peter Slack said: “The Peak Park have really failed, in my opinion, to really address this situation.

“I think they have really got to get their act together now and say look, things have got to change, we have got to keep families together, we don’t want families splitting up. I want the peak park now really to come alive and acknowledge that it is 2024 not 1824, they need to change things in a constructive way.”

Cllr Chapman said: “The Peak Park is surrounded by 11 constituent councils, all with the same attitude Derbyshire Dales has got, so if we multiply what the Derbyshire Dales is asking for by 11 then you can say goodbye to the national park.” Cllr O’Brien said: “It is unfortunate if people characterise what I have said as a free-for-all in the national park, that is not what I have said and it is not what I or anyone on this council is advocating.

“Communities are facing an uncertain future and need nourishing. One way is to allow families to thrive and flourish in community. Housing that meets their needs is the single most effective way to do that. We are not talking about building new towns and villages – we are talking about sensitive new developments on suitable sites that meet the needs of the community.”

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