Calls for ‘radical changes’ to bring empty Chesterfield town centre buildings back into use

One of Chesterfield town centre’s most prominent empty buildings is the former Eyres building – which closed its doors to customers in April 2021 after staff were told that the company had ceased trading.

In the six months that have followed, there have been no changes at the flagship store on Holywell Street. Eyres of Chesterfield is still registered as an active company, but efforts to contact those involved have been met with silence.

Philip Riden, chairman of the Chesterfield Civic Society, said that much of the empty property around Chesterfield was formerly used for retail – but felt that many of these sites were unlikely to be taken on by retailers. With that in mind, he said that the best option for Eyres would be to tear the building down and create new town centre housing.

“The Civic Society has written a new town trail guide, which I have tried out myself, and it is dispiriting to walk past a number of big empty buildings. The sooner there is some progress, the better, but interest rates going up does not encourage investment.

“My argument is that there is now so much empty property in the town centre, most of which was once used for retail, but it is unlikely that it will ever all be used for retail again.

“You have to think of radical changes in use – this is where I wonder if the time hasn’t come to think in terms of trying to re-establish houses in or close to the town centre.

“I can’t see the Eyres building ever being used as one shop again, or even being split into several shops. I don’t think it’s suitable for conversion into flats, so that is a case where I would demolish and start again, possibly with newly-built flats.”

Mr Riden added that similar proposals would be suitable for the former Regal Cinema and Zanzibar nightclub on Cavendish Street.

“I think the old cinema is a very ugly building, and you could put a block of mansion flats or possibly houses there. An ex-cinema isn’t a very flexible building anyway, which is why I think it should come down.

“The site is a bit narrow as it backs onto Broad Pavement, and there’s not a lot of space behind, but I do not believe it’s beyond the ingenuity of the architectural profession to find a solution – possibly with underground parking and three floors of flats above.”

Several plans have also been put forward for the old North East Derbyshire District Council offices, which were closed when the authority moved to a new site in Wingerworth in 2015.

In 2018, McCarthy and Stone were given planning permission to demolish the building and build 64 retirement homes at the site. However, the firm then scrapped its plans – without publicly revealing their reason for doing so.

In August 2021, The Derbyshire Times learned that the building was under the ownership of property development company Homes by Holmes. It proposed to redevelop the site, rather than demolishing the building, creating up to 75 ‘high-quality’ one, two and three-bedroom apartments.

We tried to contact Homes by Holmes for an update as to the future of the building, but our efforts were unsuccessful. Mr Riden said that, if the care home proposals did not rematerialise, the site would be perfectly suited to a residential development.

“That to me looks like an ideal area for residential redevelopment. It is flanked on two sides by residential buildings, as well as a number of professional practices, which were built as residential houses.

“It’s in an attractive position, on a wide street overlooking more or less open country. If McCarthy Stone cannot be persuaded to go back to ‘plan a’ and build a care home – which I would again see as an excellent use for the site – then new housing would be the best bet.”

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The Victoria Centre on Knifesmithgate shut unexpectedly in March 2017, and has remained vacant ever since. Over the years, it housed a ballroom, cinema, billiard hall, bingo hall and shops. The ballroom played host to a number of internationally-famous bands, including Slade, the Who, the Kinks and Bill Haley and His Comets

The London-based Metropolitan Properties Company (FGC) Ltd owns the site. The Derbyshire Times have contacted the firm on several occasions for further details as to why the site closed, as well as any plans for redevelopment – but they have not responded.

Mr Riden said: “It is very difficult to get the present owner to do anything if they don’t want to. It probably has got potential for restoration in some form, but I can’t see an obvious way forward with that.

“The facade to Knifesmithgate would have to stay, that can’t be altered, and it is a question of what can be done inside. You can find a use for any building, it’s a question of how much money you want to spend on it.

“It’s not going to become a cinema or shops again – it could conceivably become a restaurant or a nightclub possibly.

“Chesterfield Borough Council isn’t in a position to buy property like that these days – although they might have done once – so what can they do? They can only wait till somebody comes along with a suggestion and make a decision on planning grounds.”

Although the old Co-op on Elder Way has undergone an extensive redevelopment in recent years, the majority of the site remains vacant.

The department store became an iconic part of the town centre across its 75 years, but was forced to close in July 2013 amid a drop in demand.

A Premier Inn was opened on the first and second floors of the site in April 2019. In June 2022, the Derbyshire Times was told that developers hope to turn the rest of the building into a food and drinks quarter – with eight ground floor units on offer. Currently, none of the available units have been taken on.

Further out of the town centre, the former Walton Works was identified as an important brownfield site for development – and plans were previously submitted for up to 400 homes, shops and other facilities on the sprawling Chatsworth Road site.

The Walton Works building is the former Robinson healthcare factory – and land owners Robinson issued a statement to the Derbyshire Times in June 2021. Then, the company said they were actively looking for a buyer of the Walton Works site, and were in discussion with a number of interested parties.

There has been no progress in terms of the redevelopment of the site since then. The Derbyshire Times attempted to contact Robinson for this story, but received no response.