Row over solar panels at old Queen's Park Sports Centre continues

Council bosses have again defended not donating solar panels from the old Queen's Park Sports Centre to community groups.
Start of the demolition of the Queens Park Lesiure CentreStart of the demolition of the Queens Park Lesiure Centre
Start of the demolition of the Queens Park Lesiure Centre

Demolition work is currently taking place to demolish the building on Boythorpe Road.

Last week Chesterfield Borough Council came under-fire for not reusing the solar panels from the roof but responded by saying it was not feasible due to safety concerns and costs.

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In a letter to the Derbyshire Times, Matt Glenn, a member of the Chesterfield Liberal Democrats, wrote: “I understand that in fact several community groups expressed an interest in reusing these solar panels and one had been talking to the council for 18 months, but due to Labour’s disinterest the council never wrote this into the demolition contract.”

In response, Councillor Amanda Serjeant, the borough council’s cabinet member for town centres and visitor economy, said: “We worked with community groups over a long period of time to try and find a solution which would allow them to re-use the solar panels from the former Queen’s Park Sports Centre. It was not possible to agree a cost-effective way of doing this that ensured the panels could be safely removed without posing any risk of injury to members of the public or the contractors on the demolition site. The contract we have agreed with the demolition company ensures that the maximum number of fixtures from the building are reused and the solar panels are recycled rather than sent to landfill.”