Government body raises concerns about new plans for Chesterfield Hotel site

Chesterfield Borough Council and Prestige Hotels (Midlands) Ltd – which owns the prominent property – have submitted an outline planning application to erect two buildings at the Malkin Street site after the hotel building is demolished.

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One of the buildings would be up to six storeys while the other would be up to three storeys.

According to the application form, the buildings would primarily be used as an office and a hotel.

Possible further uses to be considered include residential flats, retail, event space and food and drink establishments.

As part of the ongoing consultation process into the planning application, Historic England has commented and outlined its concerns that the proposals could affect views of the Grade I-listed Crooked Spire church.

Rose Thompson, inspector of historic buildings and areas at Historic England, said: “There are fine views of the highly graded Church of St Mary and All Saints from the lower level land around the railway station and from the rising land on the approach from the town centre.

“We are concerned that in particular the six-storey element of the proposed development could impinge in and detract from key views of the church.

“Only limited visualisations have been provided within the supporting documents, many of which are shown as bird’s eye views which fail to adequately demonstrate the potential impact.”

Historic England has recommended that the applicant ‘undertakes an analysis of key views’ towards the church, adding that ‘further visualisations are required to illustrate the impact of the proposal’.

Last month, the Derbyshire Times asked the council to clarify exactly what would be in the two buildings.

A council spokesperson said: “This is an application for outline planning permission for the development of the site – in principle – for a variety of potential uses as part of the wider regeneration plans for this part of the town centre.

“Therefore there is no specific detail about what will be in the two buildings and how they will operate, or any artist impressions, at this stage – this detail will come forward in a full planning application at a later date.

“Internal work at the former hotel is ongoing and we expect that the building will be demolished by early 2022.”

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