New road launches £400m Chesterfield resort plan

Work is set to start on a £400m tourist resort in Chesterfield after a grant was approved to build an access road and fence off the site.
By The Newsroom
Published 20th Jun 2016, 11:37 BST
Updated 20th Jun 2016, 12:43 BST
Chesterfield Borough Council leader John Burrows at Birchall Properties headquarters in Unstone and an image of Peak ResortChesterfield Borough Council leader John Burrows at Birchall Properties headquarters in Unstone and an image of Peak Resort
Chesterfield Borough Council leader John Burrows at Birchall Properties headquarters in Unstone and an image of Peak Resort

Some £2.8m grant of taxpayers’ cash will kickstart the vast Peak Resort scheme, which is set to create 400 construction jobs and employ 1,300 when complete at the end of 2018.

Starting in September, the end of the nesting season, a new roundabout will be built on the Sheepbridge junction of the A61 bypass and a road laid directly into the 300-acre plot at Unstone. It will pave the way for construction traffic set to build the first phase of the scheme.

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At the same time, footpaths and bridleways will be diverted and a fence built around the former opencast site.

The project is a partnership with American company Grand Heritage Hotel Group.

Landowner Rupert Carr, of Birchall Properties, said it would be the culmination of 28 years’ work.

He said: “The Prime Minister made an announcement about the joint venture and I got a phone call from the economic development team at Chesterfield Borough Council about an infrastructure grant. It was essential for my American partners coming into it.

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The money is from the Sheffield City Region Investment Fund, administered by the Local Enterprise Partnership which covers nine local authority areas including Chesterfield Borough Council.

Council leader John Burrows said: “Peak Resort is due to the tenacity and ambition of Rupert Carr. Through all sorts of difficulties he has pushed his way forward and occasionally stamped his feet and said, ‘this is going to happen’.

“It’s an amazing project and opportunity for Sheffield City Region, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.”

Peak Resort is set to be a village resort with a host of other features and an emphasis on city-based and international visitors exploring the great outdoors including the Peak District. As well as sports, shops, bars and nightclubs, it is set to include hostels, villas and hotels a university campus and convention centre. It will also have a 2,800 space car park.

A UK company has taken an option on 10 acres for a medical village focusing on sports injuries, cosmetics and physical and mental rehabilitation, Mr Carr added.