Deb Chemicals, Belper, Derbyshire
 
This 2008 scheme looked to seek outline permission for 79 dwellings on a historic industrial site located within the town centre of Belper in Derbyshire. The site had a number of existing planning constraints applied to it, namely it’s designation in the local development plan as a “business and industrial area” and its inclusion within the “Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site”. The owner of the site was rapidly outgrowing the existing facility and was in the process of having a new manufacturing plant and offices constructed on a new local business park. The existing plant was therefore surplus to requirements but it was important to secure an approval on the site that would generate the highest value for the company once it was sold.
 
Initial research using historic local maps showed that a large proportion of the site was originally used for housing , and had been purchased  piecemeal for conversion to commercial use in the early 20th century; this formed the basis of the planning application  case for conversion  back to a housing site. Studies were then carried out on the immediate area in terms of existing and proposed sound levels, ecology and existing and proposed traffic densities and it was demonstrated in a number of pre-application meetings with the local planning, ecological and highways officers that the conversion of the site to residential use would not have a detrimental effect on any of these elements.
 
An initial feasibility layout plan was prepared taking into account the results of the local authority feedback and this was then exhibited at a Public Consultation on site, comments raised by neighbours and local councillors were then noted and a revised layout was submitted along with supporting reports and surveys to the local authority for approval. The planning department approved the proposal within the allotted time scale for a large planning application and the result allowed the company to move off site to the new facility seamlessly.