25 July 2026
I object strongly to this planning application, which is ill-conceived, contextually ignorant and damaging to both the economy and residents of Buxton and the surrounding communities. In recent years Buxton economy has started to improve for several reasons. Tourism has increased with the refurbishment of iconic buildings such as the Crescent. The cultural festivals in Buxton have flourished bringing many more visitors to the town and so boosting the economy. Community action groups have come together to promote new initiatives which have benefited residents, visitors and businesses. The submitted application has failed to align effectively with any of these locally driven actions. One of the biggest challenges for Buxton is to regenerate retail in the town. The retail offer must be improved for a geographically isolated area with a population of over 20,000 in Buxton which increases to 35,000 within a 5-mile radius. Reducing town car parking by 50% and using town centre buildings for unnecessary apartment dwellings does not address this challenge and indeed does the very opposite. For example, Waitrose footfall is reliant upon adequate car parking. Reduce car parking by 50% could lead to Waitrose closing down. This in turn could impact on other retail outlets and ultimately creating Buxton ghost town. Buxton has a long-standing reputation as a cultural heritage centre. This application will severely damage that reputation. Building new four and five storey structures will dominate the civic landscape. Using industrial-focussed materials (which are significantly cheaper) in these structures is totally inappropriate and will damage the overall vista of the town. Housing requirements for the 35,000 residents of Buxton and the surrounding area have not been recognised. It appears that adding apartments in the town centre has been driven by the desire to achieve housing targets and make the application financially viable for the developer through, for example, ongoing ground rentals and maintenance fees. There is no mention of what are the housing needs of this area and how they have been taken into account. Overall, this application presents as one in which the developer has little understanding of Buxton and its people. As such it should be rejected. The involvement of local expertise should be mandatory for a new plan which will promote opportunities for Buxton to flourish.