Campaigners fear traffic 'chaos' at roundabout if massive housing scheme near Worksop goes ahead

Bolsover Council is still considering opposition from campaigners and residents to Waystone Ltd’s planning application for its Clowne Garden Village scheme for 1,800 homes near Clowne and Barlborough.

The council is also considering a separate Draft Creswell Growth Plan with possible increased housing and traffic for nearby Creswell.

And as the council and Derbyshire Council’s highways authority address Waystone’s designs aimed at improving the capacity of the busy A616 and A619 Treble Bob Roundabout between Barlborough and Clowne, campaigners Roger and Dee Dell claim that unless the roundabout is replaced, the area may suffer with subsidence from a feared increase in vehicle movements.

Mr Dell, of the Clowne Garden Village Action Group, said: “The area available for improvement of the Treble Bob Roundabout is extremely restricted.

“In my opinion if the roundabout was only modified and not replaced the foundations for the existing roundabout would need to be embodied with any new foundations.

“If there were any differential movement between the existing foundations and the new foundations the whole area might be subject to subsidence or heave.

"Either would badly affect any new black top (road surface).”

Mr Dell argued the area around the roundabout should be subject to a geotechnical survey so that engineers can establish its stability and this should be paid for by Waystone who could be responsible for a significantly increased traffic flow if the Clowne Garden Village housing scheme gets planning permission.

The Treble Bob Roundabout – named after the nearby Harvester Treble Bob restaurant – is off Oxcroft Way, the A619 Chesterfield Road, and the A616 to Junction 30 of the M1 motorway, and it sees busy traffic movements between Clowne and Barlborough and the M1.

Derbyshire Council’s Adrian Martin, of development control enquiries, has told Mr Dell in correspondence the improvement design for the roundabout has been agreed in principle with the county council as an appropriate means of mitigating potential increased traffic movements generated by the development.

The proposed improvement plan for the roundabout, according to the county council, has also been agreed in principle with National Highways who are responsible for the highway network including Junction 30, of the M1 motorway.

But Mr Martin added the design is only agreed in ‘plan form’ and not in detail with construction elements and should Bolsover District Council give planning approval the county council have recommended the improvement scheme be implemented by Waystone at the developer’s expense.

Should Waystone go ahead with the work, according to Mr Martin, the developers will be required to agree that work will be carried out to ‘publicly maintainable highway extents’ with ‘considerable engineering details’ to be agreed by the county council.

Mr Martin added this will include a Ground Investigation Report to determine the below ground conditions and what measures may be required to ensure the integrity of the road construction.

Campaigner Dee Dell fears the area could be flooded with up to 6,000 extra cars if the new housing plans go ahead with many trying to reach the M1 and she added if both Clowne Garden Village and the Creswell Growth Plan go ahead there ‘really would be chaos’.

Resident Dougie Peck also shares campaigners’ concerns that Clowne Garden Village could lead to overcrowding and pose a strain on highways, services and infrastructure and he also feels any additional developments at nearby Creswell could have a combined detrimental effect for the region’s highways.

He claims if Clowne Garden Village goes ahead there could be thousands more vehicle movements in the area creating ‘major gridlock’ and he claims any development in Creswell could increase that by up to a further 3,000.

Former Bolsover Conservative MP Mark Fletcher, who shared opposition to the housing scheme, has previously raised concerns the roundabout is already operating at ‘over capacity’ due to new housing and it is dangerous for anyone trying to cross the roundabout.

Newly-elected Bolsover Labour MP Natalie Fleet has stated she is working hard to engage with residents concerned about the Clowne Garden Village scheme.

Clowne action group campaigners have agreed to work with Creswell campaigners who have shared concerns about possible developments in and around Creswell which the district council says could include housing, employment opportunities and improvements to green spaces and the countryside.

Waystone’s planning application for the Clowne Garden Village housing scheme is for 1,800 properties with 24 hectares of greenfield land for mixed-development and employment with community and commercial facilities north of Clowne including part of the village centre off Hickinwood Lane.

Clowne Garden Village Action Group campaigners and many residents have objected to the plans because they fear the scheme will lead to overcrowding, pose a huge impact on highways and existing services, the countryside and wildlife, and create drainage and flooding problems with the potential loss of Green Belt land.

The Clowne action group’s membership has grown to more than 2,000 and its online and paper petitions have over 6,000 signatures from residents in Clowne and Barlborough.

Nearly 1,400 public comments have also been submitted to the council concerning the application for the proposed housing development.

Waystone has claimed there is support for the scheme in terms of the potential for economic growth, facilities and jobs.

Bolsover Council has said that it does not wish to comment any further at this stage after it has previously addressed concerns.