30 potential Derbyshire regeneration developments passed to the new East Midlands mayor - including Clowne Garden Village, Chesterfield town centre and Chesterfield Waterside

A new report to be discussed at a meeting hosted by Derbyshire County Council will see a list of 30 priority investment sites across the county, including Derby, passed on to the new East Midlands mayor – Labour’s Claire Ward.

This is to help form an investment plan for the East Midlands Combined County Authority areas, which includes Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.

A key focus of the new powers handed to the mayor and the new authority are for regeneration of brownfield sites and housing development.

Among the 30 sites are seven projects in Derby and the list includes many sites which are either already under construction or have been in the offing for years, if not decades.

It also includes a number of notable absences, including the many brownfield quarry sites across Derbyshire – including Wirksworth and Matlock – which are the focus of many held-up and hamstrung regeneration projects in the county.

This is the current list of proposed priority investment sites in Derbyshire:

Becketwell – Derby

The £200 million Becketwell regeneration project in Derby city centre, which is well under way, aims to redevelop a derelict part of the city.

It includes the construction of a £45 million 3,500-capacity performance venue – creating 200 jobs and generating £10 million a year in investment – and 259 apartments, with the city’s former curving Debenhams store demolished to make way for the accommodation.

Cultural Heart of the City – Derby

This scheme focuses on Derby’s Cathedral Quarter and includes a new plan for the former Assembly Rooms, with the performance venue having been closed for a decade following a fire in 2014.

The plan is to demolish the Assembly Rooms and replace it with a “multi-purpose development” containing restaurants, leisure facilities, commercial and community facilities and would be accompanied by the regeneration of the surrounding Market Place.

North Riverside – Derby

This scheme forms part of the city council’s Our City Our River campaign to both improve flood defences and redevelop under-used parts of Derby.

This section would include a new flood wall from Causey Bridge to Derwent Bridge and several office blocks in Stuart Street and Derwent Street would be demolished.

University Hub Phase 2 – Derby

This is believed to refer to the University of Derby’s plans to regenerate the organisation’s two-storey building on Nuns Street, known as Brook House.

Brook House would be demolished to make way for a new masterplan including the creation of new learning centres and student living accommodation, as well as new public realm spaces.

Infinity Park Derby – Derby/South Derbyshire

This forms the business portion of the planned Infinity Garden Village scheme, straddling the border of Derby and South Derbyshire.

It would include 3.4 million square feet of new business space and the creation of 5,000 new jobs across a 290-acre extension between the A50 and Rolls-Royce. Plans for the first phase of business space and 1,850 homes were submitted in 2019 but have not yet been decided. A new A50 junction to feed the scheme has been approved.

Smartparc Segro Derby – Derby

This is an 155-acre collection of food production facilities being built on the former Celanese site in Spondon, which was a large brownfield site formerly used for making cellulose acetate.

HelloFresh, a home meal kit maker, was the first company to set up shop on the site, creating 450 jobs and is now building a 400,000 square foot distribution centre.

St Modwen Park Derby – Derby

This is a 50-acre industrial and logistics park being developed between Pride Park and the Wyvern Retail Park, off the A52, and it is well into construction with several large units completed.

In December, the owners submitted plans for a 480-space multi-storey car park to serve the new business park.

Belper North and East Mills – Belper

FIREM submitted plans to turn the historic Grade II-listed East Mill complex into 117 apartments and a range of other facilities in 2018, spending £1 million on assessments, but no decision has been made by Amber Valley Borough Council.

Part of that regeneration was to turn the East and North Mill complex into a wedding venue, high-end coffee shop, restaurants, “leisure lakes” and a free rental agreement for the North Mill museum.

Last March the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site Partnership and the councils which form it – Derbyshire, Derby, Amber Valley, Derbyshire Dales and Erewash – were to push on with a new plan, backed by public funding, for the site.

Cinderhill – Denby

This is a site which includes the infamous Denby tar pits, between Belper, the A38, Ripley and Denby.

New plans last year were for 300 homes and 74 acres of warehouses and industrial employment space, creating 1,341 jobs during construction.

This is a marked step down from initial plans for 3,000 homes and a new A38 junction, followed by a reduced scheme for 1,200 homes and 12 acres of employment space.

It does not include regeneration of the toxic tar pits on site, while previous iterations had included remediation of that area.

Lily Street Farm – Swanwick

This is a 600-home development on the 125-acre Lily Street Farm site in Derby Road, Swanwick, next to the A38.

As well as hundreds of new properties, the development is to include commercial units, an 80-bedroom hotel, a pub/restaurant, convenience store, primary school and creche and a doctors’ surgery.

Shipley Lakeside – Shipley

This involves the redevelopment of the former American Adventure site, bordering Shipley Country Park.

Plans have already been approved for 307 homes, a retirement complex, shops, businesses, a pub, hotel and healthcare facility at the “Shipley Lakeside” site, with 48 homes already occupied and 302 homes started or due to be started soon.

Clowne Garden Village

Plans for a garden village, between Barlborough and Clowne comprising 1,800 houses were submitted to Bolsover District Council in 2017 and are still being debated, with heavy opposition from campaigners.

The development would also include 60 acres of greenfield land for mixed-development and employment, as well as community and commercial facilities. Green Belt land has been released to make way for development, campaigners say.

Horizon 29 – Bolsover

This is an industrial park in Bolsover, a mile off the M1, including 1.15 million square feet of employment space covering 94 acres which is set to create more than 2,000 jobs in the logistics and manufacturing sector.

Nearly £8 million in public grant funding has already been allocated for the site, including £5.8 million from the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership and £2 million from the county council.

Birchall Estate – Chesterfield

This is the development of a tourism hub on 300 acres of former open cast coal mining land to the north of the town to act as a “gateway” for the Peak District National Park.

The first phase would cost £200 million and create 2,000 jobs through the building of a biking, hiking and adventure sports hub including 2,000 hotel rooms and 250 lodges.

Chesterfield Town Centre & Chesterfield Waterside – Chesterfield

This comprises two schemes. One is the redevelopment around Chesterfield station, including the demolition of the Chesterfield Hotel, to create 850 new jobs and build a new link road to improve traffic.

It would include a new station forecourt and a transport hub with multi-storey car park capable of accommodating 550 vehicles.

Chesterfield Waterside is a £340 million regeneration project which is one of the largest in the UK, redeveloping a 40-acre site straddling the River Rother and the Chesterfield Canal, alongside the A61.

This will include hundreds of homes, office space, a new canal basin, a “rejuvenated canal and river”, multi-storey car park, hotel, and a “hub” for tourists and water-based leisure enthusiasts along with a cafe.

Sheepbridge Lane – Chesterfield

This is believed to refer to the 500-home housing development known as Dunston Grange, between Sheepbridge and Cutthorpe, which was approved by Chesterfield Borough Council last July despite more than 1,400 objections.

It would stem off a further 299-home development and would include land for a new primary school and a pub, takeaway or restaurant.

Staveley

This includes the redevelopment of 370 acres of former industrial land and would include the Chesterfield to Staveley Regeneration Route, a £166 million scheme which has been paused indefinitely by the county council.

The development would include thousands of feet of industrial and warehouse space, a primary school, marina, and wildlife habitats, along with hundreds of homes – with plans for 700 already submitted.

Ashbourne Business Park – Ashbourne

This scheme focuses on the Ashbourne Airfield Industrial Estate and the wider former airfield and its redevelopment is the flagship regeneration scheme in the Derbyshire Dales.

The industrial park, home to 70 businesses and 2,000 staff, is to be extended by 22 acres, while the remainder of the site is to accommodate more than 1,600 homes. The first batches of more than 460 homes were rejected last April over poor design work.

Bakewell Riverside – Bakewell

This appears to be the Riverside Works/Riverside Business Park industrial estate in Bakewell, comprising 225,000 square feet in employment floor space.

That development includes a 16,000 square foot series of units leased to Thornbridge Brewery and a second block of 12,500 square feet also being leased to Thornbridge and a personal fitness company.

The rest of the site would include 96 homes, with 86 in the former Lumford Mill.

New Stanton Park – Stanton/Ilkeston

The former Stanton Ironworks was believed to be the largest brownfield site in the Midlands, and was the largest derelict plot in Derbyshire.

Now 200 acres of the site are being redeveloped into New Stanton Park, an industrial and warehouse complex comprising 2.5 million square feet of employment space and creating 4,000 jobs. It would also include a Midland Mainline rail connection through a 17-acre rail hub.

Graphite – Glossop

This is thought to refer to an expansion of the Graphite Business Park in Glossop, which has up to 30,000 square feet of development space but planning permission for up to 345,000 square feet.

Harpur Hill and Staden Lane – Buxton

This is thought to refer to an expansion of the Staden Lane Industrial Estate in the Harpur Hill area of Buxton, opposite the both Foxlow Fields housing development and new Aldi.

Baileys Square, Clay Cross – Clay Cross

This forms part of the Clay Cross Town Deal and involves the redevelopment of a new town square based on its 1898 roots. It will be used for markets, seasonal events and as a “public forum”.

Egstow Park – Clay Cross

The former BiWater site is being redeveloped with more than 700 homes along with employment land and a local centre including food and drink businesses.

The Avenue, Wingerworth

This involves a 220-acre country park, 270 homes, leisure and sports facilities and a school on a former coking plant on the edge of Wingerworth, overlooking Chesterfield.

It had a reputation as one of Europe’s most contaminated sites but it has now been remediated and is largely complete.

Dove Valley Park – Foston

This is a large 200-acre industrial warehouse complex on a former airfield off the A50.

It includes a £50 million bottling plant which makes soft drinks for Lidl, which was hailed as the “largest single investment in South Derbyshire since Toyota”.

The site has several schemes under way for more warehouses, creating 180 jobs, 270 jobs and 290 jobs respectively.

Former Drakelow Power Station – Drakelow

A 2,200-home scheme is currently under construction on the former power station.

The wider scheme would involve a primary school and a slew of other services. Plans for an 82-acre solar farm on the former power station itself – not the surrounding land – was filed in February.

Sinfin Moor – Sinfin

This is believed to refer to the Infinity Garden Village scheme which would surround the Sinfin Moor area between Derby and the A50. Plans for the lion’s share of housing on the scheme, 1,850-homes, were filed in 2019 and have yet to be determined despite numerous shifting opportunities. An A50 junction to serve the scheme has already been approved off Deep Dale Lane. The village would also include a secondary school near Chellaston, a primary school, shops, a pub and a petrol station.

Swadlincote Town Centre

This scheme is believed to be the package of projects applied for through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund involving town centre regeneration in Swadlincote.

It includes the refurbishment of the Delph, demolition of Bank House to form a car park and “pocket park” and had included a plan to turn the former covered council car park into an open-air events space.

Woodville Regeneration Area – Woodville/Swadlincote

This is the £13.4 million Swadlincote to Woodville Regeneration Route built between Woodville and Swadlincote and finished in December 2021 to provide access to acres of development land.

The land is set for 300 homes, a supermarket, restaurant or fast-food outlet, a pub and thousands of square metres of new office space and storage and distribution warehouses.