CAMPAIGNERS have voiced outrage after plans were approved to build homes on farmland next to a village.
Amber Valley Borough Council's planning board has approved proposals for up to 360 homes to be built on the site in Coppice Farm, off Peasehill Road, Waingroves.
Developer Hallam Land Management had applied to build on the land in April last year, prompting objections from campaign group Amber Valley SOS (Support Our Struggle) .
Head of the group Sylvia Mason said of the planning green light: "There is already planning permission for houses to be built on the other side of the road.
"It's a village and every field that borders it is being built on. There isn't the infrastructure, school places or jobs for this number of people. Waingroves is just going to be swamped. It will be Waingroves city."
Waingroves and Codnor councillor Chris Emmas-Williams said the Peasehill Road development would double the size of Waingroves.
He said: "The village has 390 houses and this development will double its size.
"I have grave concerns regarding the amount of vehicles that will be on the roads and where they are going to go.
"At the planning board meeting on Monday night I asked that there should be a full transportation study of the whole area."
Mr Emmas-Williams said many of the people believed more development in the area should be taking place on brownfield sites.
He said: "We see developers buying up the green spaces and not building on them."
Campaigner and Waingroves resident Becky Deans listed all the housing plans for the area with sadness.
She said: "We lost the village green applications for Codnor Common and Greenwich, so it looks like there will be 98 houses at Waingroves, plus the 360 on Coppice Farm, then 500 eventually in Greenwich and 500 separating Codnor from its castle.
"It's a sad day for Waingroves and a sad time for the whole area.
"When did someone decide that our children didn't deserve green fields any more?"
In its plans, development company Hallam Land Management stated that the new site would include parks and play areas.
Paul Burton, director from Hallam Land Management, said: "We are pleased with the decision to approve the proposed plans for Coppice Farm.
"The scheme has been sensitively designed and will provide much-needed new housing as well as lots of new and accessible green open space."
The firm's website says that "established trees and hedgerows will, as far as possible, be retained as part of any new development" and that "new landscaping is also proposed along the edge of the site to provide an attractive outlook". It adds that it will be "a very attractive development for the town".
