Chesterfield's former Queen's Park Sports Centre to be demolished

Chesterfield Borough Council’s planning committee made the decision at a meeting last Wednesday.

The building has stood empty since the end of last year when it closed to make way for a new £11.25million sports centre on the Queen’s Park Annexe site further along Boythorpe Road.

The borough council says it has to be demolished because it is no longer economically viable.

Members of the public will be consulted on future uses of the site between Monday and Friday, October 21.

A borough council spokesman said: “The options for the future uses of the site will be released before the beginning of the consultation.”

A date has not yet been set for the demolition.

Councillor Amanda Serjeant, the borough council’s cabinet member for town centre and visitor economy, said: “Now we have approved the demolition, we are turning our attention to the future use of the site.

“We have been researching a whole range of potential options for the site and assessing whether they are viable from a planning perspective.

“We need to protect the historic Grade II star listing of the neighbouring park by ensuring any future use is compatible with that leisure setting.”

Commenting on possible future uses for the site on social media, Rory Hyslop said: “It would make some awesome apartments over looking the park.”

Corina Batty said: “Why not turn it into another car park.”

James Cran said: “They need to keep it up and knock the new one down!”

Andrew C Slack added: “For something to be built there it would have to be income generating as councils have to be self-funding by 2020.”

At the end of last month, security fencing was installed around part of the site to address concerns about anti-social behaviour around the park and to prevent vandalism or potential break-ins. The borough council says it is not related to the plans for demolition.