Exciting plans to transform Vicar Lane Shopping Centre in Chesterfield lodged

Exciting plans have been unveiled for Vicar Lane Shopping Centre in Chesterfield.

The shopping centre was bought out of administration by property fund company Alteris in February.

The new owners are now ploughing ahead with their ambitious plans to transform the centre.

The plans are:

A giant outdoor TV screen makes up part of the plans.

- The installation of a LED screen to be placed on the elevation facing St James’ Square to be used for entertainment and events

- The creation of a new, expanded amphitheatre at St James’ Square that will increase the area of the existing amphitheatre and the level of seating available within this area and it overall quality of environment as a public space

- Elevation works to Unit 25 and the amalgamation of the unit with floor-space currently used as part of the housing and back of house areas for the existing cash machine on St James’ Square in order to create a unit that fronts onto the newly created amphitheatre at St James’ Square

- The change of use of floorspace within Unit 25 to enable it to be used flexibly

MORE NEWS: Murder investigation launched after disappearance of Chesterfield man MORE NEWS: This is where mobile speed cameras will be in Derbyshire from Thursday, July 4 Speaking at a Destination Chesterfield event in March, Bert Broadhead, director of Alteris, said: “People still want shops, but, curating them better and creating a personalised experience for town centre visitors is the key to a successful post digital high street."

He added: “Chesterfield is already ahead of many town centres in the UK in terms of delivering a town centre experience to visitors. People no longer want identical, faceless town centres. They want a variety and mix of shops – both chain and independent stores as well as events which can engage the whole family.”

Peter Swallow, chair of Destination Chesterfield, said: “We must not underestimate the power of town centre living to increase footfall to enable us to adapt to the changing face of retail.

“Chesterfield is a town of opportunity and we have the partners and collaboration in place to drive forward our ambitions to not only deliver our current development plans but also attract

further investment.”