'A community win': Plans for water park resort in derelict Derbyshire quarry blocked

Delighted campaigners and an image of the plans
Delighted campaigners and an image of the plans Credit: ITV News Central (l), Pennyroyal Design Group (r)

Plans for a controversial water park resort on the site of a derelict quarry in a Derbyshire village, have been refused at a council meeting.

Hundreds of residents were opposed to the development called "Amber Rock".

Plans were announced in 2019 with designs submitted two years ago, but today marked an end to the fight from those against the plans in and around Crich.

If approved, the development would have included:

  • a water park

  • 128 lodges

  • a hotel

  • a lake

  • sports centre

  • and a zip line on 43 acres of land.

Crich Quarry Credit: ITV News Central

  • The "for" and "against" arguments

Those for the development cited that it would would have been increased tourism, boosting the local economy with 561 jobs.

But there were objections from more than 700 local residents.

They argued the main issues were the effect on the local environment, on nature and the lack of infrastructure in terms of roads and access.

Heritage England also objected, saying it would potentially harm the world heritage site Derwent Valley Mills.

In a planning meeting today, councillors voted against the scheme.

"This is what happens when a community comes together"

Tony Mills helped lead the campaign against the development.

Speaking to our reporter Mark Kielesz-Levine, Tony said:

"The group is thrilled, it's a victory for the community, with 600 members in our Facebook group, many more in the community all on the same page and shows what happens when the community comes together with one voice.

"It’ll be nice to see the quarry become more nature habitat lodges".

ITV News Central has approached the developers BMET for comment and as yet have not heard back from them.

"The application should be refused for several reasons"

In a statement Derbyshire County Council said:

“Derbyshire County Council’s planning committee considers all planning applications on their merits and is impartial.

“All decisions by the Regulatory Planning Committee are made with regard to local and national development plans and frameworks and are based on proven factual information, information presented to the committee and other material considerations.

“For this particular development, all aspects of the proposal were considered at the meeting and the earlier site visit, and the Committee concluded that the application should be refused for several reasons.

Campaigners in Derbyshire Credit: ITV News Central

“The applicant has failed to provide a sufficiently reliable assessment as to the environmental effects from the development and the development is considered to conflict with both Local development plan Policy and national guidance.

“Due to a lack of information provided to support the proposals, it has not been demonstrated that the development would not result in significant harm caused to road safety, heritage and protected species and habitats.”

The developers may come back with altered plans but the campaigners say they're ready to object again if they feel it isn't right for the area.