Reservations about plan for 18 new flats behind north Derbyshire town centre pub

The proposed development for land at the rear of the White Swan, Market Place, Bolsover, would be a mix of one-bedroom apartments at ground floor with two-bedroom flats above in a terraced three-storey townhouse arrangement.

Residential use of the site, which lies within a conservation area, has previously been granted and the latest application to Bolsover District Council is seeking full planning consent for means of access, landscaping, layout, scale and appearance.

Points made in a heritage statement to the council include that Bolsover has very few large ‘planned’ developments and is a patchwork of buildings. Development mainly occurs in short rows with irregular roof heights. The town centre contains two-storey buildings. The statement adds: “As such, a single design style or ‘house type’ approach is highly unlikely to be successful in gaining permission in this context.”

A report from Derbyshire County Council archaeologist Reuben Thorpe states: “In terms of below ground archaeology, previous work in the surrounding area has demonstrated the preservation and potential for preservation of neolithic, Bronze Age, Roman, early medieval (7th – 10th cent AD) and medieval archaeology. This potential for preservation is not addressed in the application in the form of a Heritage Impact assessment and on this basis the application should be refused pending the production and submission of a fully formed Heritage Impact assessment which includes both impacts to setting and potential impacts to below ground archaeology.”