Amber Valley Borough Council

A school's plan to build an extension to its sixth form block have been rejected.

Ecclesbourne School, in Wirksworth Road, Duffield, had hoped to build the extension to free up more study, teaching, and cafe space - along with five extra parking spaces.

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The school said that existing space was "inadequate and overcrowded" because of rising pupil numbers which are due to increase from 1,420 to 1,625.

However, Amber Valley Borough Council voted last night to refuse the application, saying the plan would see an unacceptable reduction in recreational space at the school and did not take into account car ownership levels.

Planning officers warned the committee it would be difficult to defend an appeal on highways grounds if the school appealed the decision but the plan was rejected anyway.

Permission to build 200 houses near a former landfill site in Derbyshire was granted last night despite objections from residents.

The chairman of Amber Valley Borough Council's planning committee had the casting vote after six councillors voted for and six were against the development on land off Birchwood Lane in Somercotes, according to the Local Democracy Reporter Service.

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Resident Troy Smith said that the proposal presented a "clear and present danger to all living near to the site" and that it was "widely known to be contaminated".

An agent for the applicant said: "Hats off to the residents for wanting to make sure that the application is sufficiently examined and those who even asked Public Health England to look over the proposals."

However, she said the site could be made usable and work would be carried out to ensure this.

A borough council has seized an "historically important" railway station after its owner neglected the site, leaving it requiring extensive repairs.

Today, Amber Valley Borough Council served the owner of Wingfield Station in South Wingfield with a Compulsory Purchase Order.

It was opened in 1840, one of the first railway stations built in England and closed in 1967.

Peter Barr, via Wikimedia Commons

Councillor Trevor Ainsworth, said: "Compulsory purchase is not something we take lightly, but in this case we were left with no other option if we wished to preserve this historically-valuable building."

The council said it would ensure the site was sufficiently repaired.

Labour's leader in Amber Valley has expressed his disappointment at the outcome of the election, but says he remains optimistic about his party's chances next year.

The Conservatives took three seats from Labour to retain control of the borough council.

Councillor Chris Emmas-Williams, who represents Codnor and Waingroves, said next year's election will feature 14 seats held by the Conservatives and just one held by Labour, which he feels gives them scope for a comeback.

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He said: "It's a really gutting result. I am very disappointed. I thought that the electorate would see that we had put forward a solid plan for the future and good proposals, but clearly they don't think so.

"It was always going to be difficult, but we'll be back next year to take control, definitely."

Amber Valley's Conservative MP has heralded his party's borough council success as "very positive".

The Tories gained three wards from their Labour rivals to increase their number of councillors to 25, while Labour has 20.

Nigel Mills said: "It was an up and down night. We lost a seat in Belper but gained two back in Heanor and one in Ripley, so overall it was a very positive night for us.

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"The fact that we our gaining new ground is a positive situation, it shows the good work that the individual councillors and candidates have done.

"I think it is a trend we are seeing across the country to a certain extent, in Leave (EU referendum) supporting areas."

The Conservatives have increased their majority on Amber Valley Borough Council by two.

Fifteen of the 45 seats on the authority were up for election with the Tories taking seven and Labour winning eight of the 10 they were defending.

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It means the Conservatives now have 25 councillors to Labour's 20.

The former Labour leader of the council, Paul Jones, lost his seat by 28 votes - one for every year he had held the ward.

His response was simply: "C'est la vie".

Labour has failed to gain control of either Walsall or Amber Valley, where the party only needed a small swing in order to win an overall majority. Yet it is clear on the results declared so far that it is not going to achieve either objective in these predominantly Remain voting areas.