Plans approved for 700-car storage area in village

Councillors were told the scheme would form an expansion of an unnamed car sales company

A Derbyshire business has been given the green light for a 700-car storage area as it looks to expand.

P.M Harris Ltd was given permission to proceed with the plans at The Mease industrial estate off Lowman Way in Hilton by South Derbyshire District Council's planning committee on Tuesday.

Councillors were told the scheme would form an expansion of an unnamed local car sales company.

The committee, concerned about the noise impact on nearby new housing on The Mease, a former Ministry of Defence site, limited the site’s operations to certain hours.

This means the site can operate between 07:00 and 19:00 on weekdays, 08:00 to 13:00 on Saturdays, with no activity allowed on Sundays or bank holidays.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the meeting was told there would be 80 car movements (40 to and 40 from) each day and two daily vehicle transporter movements.

If the alarms of all 700 vehicles started going off simultaneously in the middle of the night, a contact number would be displayed outside the site for people to be able to contact the owners.

Councillors also approved a condition to ensure pollution prevention measures were put in place to stop oil and other substances leaking into the surrounding water supplies.