NORTHERN GATEWAY: Revival of Chesterfield megaplan on the cards

An artist's impression of the original Northern Gateway plans.

The project was paused in 2014 after Chesterfield Borough Council failed to secure a large food store for the ambitious scheme.

Now, the borough council has revealed it is continuing to work on the plans – and councillors are soon set to meet to discuss how to progress.

The news comes after the Derbyshire Times revealed on Monday that multi-million pound work to transform Chesterfield’s landmark Co-op store into a hotel and leisure hub is set to start ‘in the not-too-distant future’.

A borough council spokesman said: “We are continuing to work on the Northern Gateway scheme, with much of our effort in recent months going on work to support the private sector’s redevelopment plans for the former Co-op store.

“Since the planning approval was given for the Co-op development we have been evaluating options for the wider Northern Gateway plans to see how we can complement those proposals to ensure the town centre can reach its full potential.

“Some options on moving the site forward will be considered by councillors in a few weeks’ time.”

The original plans for the Northern Gateway aimed to create a high-quality shopping, restaurant and leisure development on land surrounding the Donut roundabout site.

The borough council decided to pause the proposals and reassess them to respond to the ‘changing high street retail sector’.