22 July 2026
I wish to oppose to the current planning application by Capital and Centric for the Springs precinct and surroundings. 1) Size, I believe the application is too large and not in keeping with the town or its character. The density of 322 homes in such a small area is far higher density than any other town centre developments in Buxton. 2) Parking, the 322 homes will require far more than the 0.5 spaces per dwelling that the developers claim. Derbyshire County Council recommends at least 1 car parking space for each 1 or 2 bedroom home. Capital and Centric cannot guarantee that each home will only have 0.5 cars, resulting in any home owning more than the stipulated amount will utilise car parking currently earmarked for visitors or residents wishing to park near Spring Gardens. 3) Resident parking, currently every household in the High Peak is entitled to a Resident's Parking Concession which for those in Buxton is used heavily to park at Springs to access Waitrose and the other shops in Spring Gardens. This development appears to remove the parking available for residents within easy walking distance of the precinct and Spring Gardens, further removing something which local residents get as part of paying for their council tax. 4) Affect on businesses within the current precinct and surrounds. The proposed development, as previously mentioned will remove parking adjacent to the current Waitrose and Springs centre. [Page 2] This will undoubtedly reduce footfall and potentially make Waitrose unviable as customers are likely to drive to Morrisons, Aldi, Tesco at Whaley Bridge or M&S at Macclesfield which all have free parking adjacent to the supermarkets. 5) Access to town centre supermarkets for the elderly or those without vehicles. The development will undoubtedly lead to the closure of Waitrose (see above) meaning that hundreds of nearby households without cars or the elderly will have no town centre supermarket they can access without a taxi. This is not reinvigorating Buxton, but killing the Spring Gardens area stone dead. Has a financial impact study been undertaken on the existing shops with the removal or nearby parking factored in ? 6) Conservation, the proposed additional parking proposed appears to be on the DB Schenker land at the rear of the railway station. This not only has extensive wildlife on the banking but has a number of established deciduous trees with Tree Protection Orders on them. Are HPBC going to waive the TPO's for their own financial gain, by removing the barrier of TPO's to benefit this proposed development (which includes sale of Springs Centre which HPBC currently own) ? 7) Conflict of interest, I believe there is a serious conflict of interest with High Peak Borough Council currently owning the Springs precinct and wishing to sell the land to Capital and Centric for this development. Therefore I question the unbiasedness and objectivity of HPBC when considering this planning application as they would benefit from its approval. I would recommend that an independent body makes this decision on planning instead of one of the parties which is due to benefit from a successful application. 8) Local services, the scale of this proposal will also increase the pressure on local services, including doctor's surgeries, schools and emergency services without any increase in their current provision . 9) Not addressing housing needs. This development will not address the housing needs of Buxton, providing only relatively high cost rental homes without the option to buy. This is not what Buxton lacks and their is a real need for low cost housing which this development does not address. As a result of the points made above, I would implore you to deny the planning application and refer it for independent adjudication by another body.