By Jon Millhouse, Director at Planning Design Practice
Returning to Ashbourne Airfield after a full decade was a truly surreal moment. It has been ten years since we secured the outline planning permission for hundreds of new homes and a vast new business park, and back then, there was nothing here but a featureless, windswept, and rather derelict stretch of wartime tarmac. To see work finally commencing after such a long wait is a milestone for the Dales.
Today, the transformation is well and truly underway. I found myself standing beside a grand, sweeping, tree-lined Link Road. Nearby, the first batch of new houses is nearing completion, with developers’ flags fluttering in the breeze and Osmaston Church peeking out from the horizon. A sales poster outside the marketing suite now promises a utopian vision: eco-friendly homes nestled amongst wildlife and green space in a rural idyll.
The Germ of an Idea
There was nothing “inevitable” about this development. To use an aviation pun for this former WWII site: it was on nobody’s radar.
At the time, Council policies didn’t allow for any development outside the town boundary, let alone something on this scale. The Link Road—connecting the A52 with the existing Industrial Estate—wasn’t a strategic objective for the Council back then. Instead, it began life on our drawing board simply because we thought it was a good idea.
I vividly remember attending meetings at the Osmaston and Yeldersley Parish Council and in the local pub, trying to explain our vision to utterly incredulous parishioners. We were proposing a massive housing estate and business park within their tiny rural parish. It was a bold claim, but with opportunity comes responsibility.
Twists, Turns, and Newts
The road to securing outline planning permission was full of hurdles. I remember meeting with the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust—back in the days when you could actually sit round a table with consultees! We agreed on a novel scheme to translocate lapwing habitats to nearby farmland years before “Biodiversity Net Gain” was even a buzzword.
The surveys provided their own surprises. I remember commissioning Great Crested Newt surveys, only to be astonished that they were happily occupying a giant muddy puddle rather than the pristine pond I’d expected. We also commissioned my first (and last!) unexploded ordnance survey; we weren’t about to let anyone fall foul of a leftover WWII bomb. Then there were the geophysical archaeological surveys. Given that half the airfield had been flattened in the 40s and the other half used as a JCB training ground for decades, there was about as much chance of finding buried archaeology there as there was on the moon!
A Sustainable Legacy
From the outset, we were adamant that this shouldn’t be a generic “out-of-town” bolt-on. We pushed for:
- A Tree-Lined Boulevard: Ensuring the Link Road becomes a proper green artery, not just a strip of tarmac.
- Integrated Green Space: We designed the masterplan with green space and sustainable drainage woven throughout the housing development to support local wildlife.
- Live-Work Balance: A mixed-use development to ensure genuine sustainability, offering both live and work opportunities.
- Connectivity: I even remember visiting the Trent Barton head office to negotiate a new bus route to link the site to the town.
The design has evolved since our original application. To the Council’s credit, they refused an initial, generic detailed design from developers, demanding a higher standard. This led to a much superior scheme and a formal Design Code for the Airfield that honours our initial aspirations.
The future looks bright for Ashbourne Airfield. Many people have worked tirelessly to turn this dream into a reality—not least the family whose name now adorns the Link Road. It’s been a decade in the making, and I look forward to watching this new community gather momentum in the years to come.