Derbyshire Community Party

12/04/2026

PERFORMATIVE ACTION ON DENBY DOES NOTHING

Amber Valley Mp Lindsey Farnsworth wrote some days ago to Energy secretary Ed (stone) Milliband, demanding action or save Denby pottery

The response..... TUMBLEWEED

What is the point? It's time to DEMAND and answer Lindsey, and demand action

80-90 already REDUNDANT.

THIS IS FUNDAMENTAL. DEMAND ACTION!!!

25/03/2026

***'SuperPylons', each taller than the Angel of the North, provoke 'no opinion' from Belper County councillor Emma Monkman.***

Cllr Emma Monkman (attendance at county council meetings 44%),tonight declared in response to my question at Amber Valley as to whether she agreed that the route of the National grid pylons is the wrong one, that she didn't have an opinion.

What a massive slap in the face for residents who will have a string of nearly 190 foot pylons within a couple of hundred feet of their homes.

Absolutely disgraceful.

Cllr Ben Bellamy

21/03/2026

Save Denby - please join the campaign.

https://www.denbypottery.com/pages/save-denby?fbclid=Iwb21leAQrXWVjbGNrBCtdWmZkaWQWUDU5tjSPyPCuu7f8I6TJDSQp1mpMK2V4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHgGLrWZ1TQDrxtd91cN6tx8VnDFpnP9qqzGJ06AK27f7NfQe_nZaVejeonRG_aem_bcVCodX0cP2CnjYY69zjIw

Denby

13/03/2026

Derbyshire County Council's basic allowance is nearly £13,000.

That is based on the time a councillor is expected to give to their role.

Council meetings are fundamental to that. It is at meetings that you get to vote on behalf of your electorate.

Less than 50% attendance at meetings deserves an explanation - and a return of half of that allowance that has been claimed.

03/03/2026

Thee you go - the VERY NEXT DAY after the local plan approved, Labour's hunt for 'Grey Belt' and assessment of whether Green belt is really green belt or would be better with houses on, starts.

The cover illustration is the well known green fields of central Birmingham and the bullring, which is about as sensitive as they get.

03/03/2026

*****Amber Valley Local Plan doesn’t protect our green field's - it threatens them.*****

Last night Amber Valley agreed to adopt a new local plan. It should have been the subject of celebration, but sadly it is fundamentally flawed and bad for the community I represent in Belper. Derbyshire Community Party Councillors voted against its adoption, and here is why.

Here is why:

SPACIAL STRATEGY

The 'Spacial strategy' is for building 'in and around' the four main settlements of Belper, Alfreton Ripley and Heanor. Belper is surrounded on one side by Green belt and the other by the World Heritage buffer zone. Local developers will understandably take this a green light to revise plans for sites on greenfield around our town.

GREEN FIELDS AND GREENBELT

The plan boasts of 30 percent brownfield. This means 70 percent of new development is planned on green field sites. Labours Grey belt. The plan states "Most new growth will be concentrated in the most sustainable locations outside the Green Belt." Most is doing a lot of heavy lifting here for a group that previously had a policy of NO building in the Green Belt.

A FAVOUR FOR DERBY AT WHAT COST?

Derby housing need - the plan states "At the point of publication of this plan whilst no conclusions had been reached as to whether Amber Valley was required to plan for meeting any of Derby’s unmet need and if so, how much and where" ....and yet goes on to make provision to take 1320 houses to cover 'Derby's need'.

This is equivalent to a settlement the size of Kilburn.

When I was in charge of the plan, we were asking Derby and South Derbyshire to take some of our housing need, given our World Heritage and Greenbelt constraints. With the plan under Cllr Monkman, Labour run Amber Valley's contribution will be welcomed by Labour run Derby City council, but will do nothing to protect our Green fields or our community.

27/02/2026

16/02/2026

Delighted that after 8 years, Belper Mills complex has at last got planning permission.

It's not perfect, but it's the only show in town.

Cllr Ben Bellamy

14/02/2026

"For a development site in the town, it's absolutely perfect."

The former Ada Belfield site on Field Lane in Belper has been derelict for six years.

Read more: https://bbc.in/3O8JGPr

11/02/2026

Delighted to get full cross party support tonight for the motion for Belper Town Council to remove itself from the 'X' platform.

Item 10 Consideration of a Motion received in accordance with Standing Order 9 (Submitted by Cllr B. Bellamy)

"Revelations that Grok AI, the AI function for X (formally known as twitter) is being used to make sexualised and n**e images of women and children which X then publishes on its page
are outrageous, and this council will immediately delete its X account and remove itself from
the X platform."

07/02/2026

06/02/2026

***MILLS APPLICATION RECOMMENDED FOR APPROVAL***

The Belper Mills planning application has been recommended for approval and will be considered by the Planning Committee on 16th February 2026.

Councillor Ben Bellamy called in the proposal to be heard by planning board, and in the public eye, and is pleased to report and thanks the council that the meeting will indeed be held in Belper.

The Planning Committee meeting will commence at 7.00pm in the Main Hall, Strutts Community Centre,
Derby Road, Belper, DE56 1UU.

Public speaking is and remains at the discretion of the Chairman of the Planning Committee, but if you would like the opportunity to address the Planning Committee for up to 5 minutes please register your interest to speak beforehand by email to
[email protected] by 12 noon on 12th February 2026.

The report prepared by officers for members of the Planning Committee can be found on the council’s website (www.ambervalley.gov.uk). To find, click on the ‘more’ button at the
bottom of the council’s home page. Then click on ‘Council meetings’. Choose the appropriate Planning Committee meeting and scroll down the page to find your particular
application/agenda item. Click on the description to view the report.