A new training and conference centre in Hazelwood, near Belper in Derbyshire, has received approval from the local borough council, despite a local campaign against the project.
The plans by US chemical firm Lubrizol, included the conversion of barns at Hillside Farm, Hazelwood, and ran into protests from some locals and a minority on the planning committee.
The plans, however, were approved at a meeting of Amber Valley Borough Council’s Planning Board on 13 June by eight votes to five.
Keith Walker, from Hazelwood Parish Council, was quoted by local paper Belper News as saying: “We are disappointed but not surprised, but we think planning law has been treated badly.”
A Lubrizol spokesperson said that the development had been kept low, was not overbearing and would create an additional 50 ‘well-paid jobs’.
Planning officers stated that environmental concerns raised by the objectors about development in the countryside needed to be balanced against the requirement in the national planning policy framework to support economic growth in rural areas.