19th April 2021
This afternoon, Chesterfield Borough Council Planning Committee approved our planning application to restore the canal between Hartington and the borough boundary almost at Renishaw. (If this is the first that you have heard about it, the full story is below.)
We would very much like to thank the large number of members of the public, politicians and numerous organisations that have supported our application. Above all, we would like to thank our Development Manager, George Rogers, for doing all the preliminary work, for writing the application itself, for negotiating with the many parties involved and for satisfying all the requests of the planning officers.
It will be a while before you see any big yellow machines on the ground but rest assured that this is a very big hurdle that we have crossed.
25th February 2021
Today the Chesterfield Borough Council Planning Officers received a communication from HS2 Ltd.
The key paragraph reads:
“In the spirit of cooperation and in event the local planning authority is so minded, HS2 Ltd has no objection to planning permission being granted for the application proposals in their amended form. However, it is recommended that CCT keep the lines of engagement open with HS2 Ltd representatives during the CCT detailed design process and continues consultation through to construction of the canal to further ensure the CCT/HS2 interface risks are minimised and better managed.”
4th February 2021
You may remember that in July we submitted our planning application to restore the remaining 2.6 km of the canal within Chesterfield Borough, see below.
HS2 objected to our application at the end of August. However in their submission they included the words “However we do support the applicant’s aspiration and would support a canal design which takes account of the work that HS2 has undertaken. It is therefore suggested that further dialogue is required with the stakeholders so that a mutually acceptable solution to the proposed canal design can be found.”
Since that time we have been negotiating with Chesterfield Borough Council Planners, Derbyshire County Council engineers and HS2. We have had the support of Toby Perkins MP and Lee Rowley MP. We have now come to an agreement which would give room for both the canal and the HS2 line to its proposed Infrastructure Maintenance Depot, if and when that is realised. This means that HS2 can withdraw their objection.
We have now submitted an addendum to our planning application to show this plan.
Click here to read the revised Planning Statement.
Click here to see the CBC planning portal.
6th July 2020
Last week we submitted our planning application to restore the remaining 2.6 km of the canal within Chesterfield Borough.
It is now on the CBC Planning Portal. Click here to see it.
There are dozens of reports, plans, diagrams etc., but the main document is the Planning Statement (incorporating the Design & Access Statement).
You can comment on the application in three ways:
1. You can comment via the planning portal website. To do this you must register and will be restricted to 100 words.
2. Email planning@chesterfield.gov.uk with your comments quoting ref. CHE/20/00420/FUL.
3. Write to Planning Services, Town Hall, Rose Hill, Chesterfield, S40 1LP quoting ref. CHE/20/00420/FUL.
This is our Press Release:
Planning permission sought for canal restoration
The Chesterfield Canal Trust has submitted a planning application for the restoration of the remainder of the canal within Chesterfield. This covers the 1.6 miles from Staveley to the edge of Renishaw. The application can be viewed on Chesterfield Borough Council’s planning website.
The route is mostly through open countryside. Part of it sits on the Staveley Puddlebank which is an embankment running for nearly half a mile across the Doe Lea river valley. The canal will cross the river on a 37m long aqueduct.
When it is finished, the canal towpath will provide a delightful walking and cycling route which will link up with the Trans-Pennine Trail, the Arkwright Trail and the Norbriggs Cutting Trail.
The volunteers from the Trust will build another lock at Staveley to complement Staveley Town Lock which they built a few years ago. Altogether the Trust has spent well over £200,000 on its work on this site. Derbyshire County Council’s Reclamation Department has also sunk considerable funds into the project which, along with the Loop Road, has totally transformed the area.
The canal is integral to the local landscape and the Trust is discussing how the restoration is central to the vision for Staveley currently being developed as part of the Towns Fund. Staveley is one of 101 towns allocated up to £25m each to support capital regeneration projects, and the Trust believes that this application should be one of the chosen projects.
The Trust was planning to start restoration work at Renishaw on a further kilometre of canal, working with volunteers, however the Covid-19 situation stopped it. The hope is that this work can start in the autumn. When both sections are complete, they will extend the canal within Derbyshire by 2½ miles.
In 1989, twenty miles of the Chesterfield Canal lay derelict between Worksop and Chesterfield. Since then 12 miles and 34 locks have been restored. 3 new locks and 11 bridges have been built plus 2 marinas. Just over eight miles remain to be completed and this planning application covers 20% of that distance. This is the next step in the Trust’s campaign to complete the restoration of the canal by 2027, which will be the 250th Anniversary of its opening. For further information, search for Chesterfield Canal Trust.