Decision looms for Derby’s £100m Market Place plans
Regeneration plans which would see a hotel and cultural hub built in Derby’s city centre have been given a cautious recommendation for approval – despite council officers accusing the proposals of ‘lacking ambition’.
Plans to redevelop the city’s Assembly Rooms in Market Place were put forward by the city council in January, with the 1970s-era venue set to be demolished to make way for a 160-room hotel and up to 67,000 sq ft of office space, as well as a ‘landmark’ cultural hub building.
While the outline proposals for the site were being considered, Vinci and Ion Developments were appointed as developers for the £100m scheme, which will be backed by around £60m of public funding.
Those proposals are set to be discussed by the city council’s planning committee on Friday, 14 May after receiving the thumbs up from planners, who say the plans could be a catalyst for the regeneration of the city centre.
However, moves to scale down the height of the seven-storey hotel building, made in response to concerns from Historic England, have attracted the ire of the city council’s urban design officers – who said the new proposals were “not befitting” of the development’s prominent location in the city centre.
In a report to committee, officers said the plans were “lacking ambition”, describing them as “overly constrained, rectilinear and bulky”. They also expressed strong concerns about approving an outline application for such a high-profile site.
Meanwhile the council’s built environment team lodged similar objections over an absence of detail in the plans, adding their very strong concerns about supporting them without more detail over height, scale, massing and design aspects of the scheme.
Updated plans for Derby’s Market Place regeneration were released this year. Credit: Derby City Council
“A full detailed planning application would have been preferred in this key sensitive heritage location within the conservation area and within the visual setting of such a large number of heritage assets,” they said.
“There is strong concern about the lack of detail and assurances, under this type of application, that the buildings might not be the highest quality.”
Nonetheless, in a 120-page report which will be discussed by the committee next week, the council’s planning officer offered qualified support for the proposals, saying the scheme would bring numerous regeneration benefits to the area.
They added that while “a number of issues would need to be addressed through future submissions”, the proposals were in line with the city’s development ambitions, and that concerns over the design of the scheme could be addressed later on by reserved matters applications.
“The proposed development would contribute to ensuring that Derby is a vibrant city, that people want to live, work, shop, and spend leisure time in, which will play an essential role in enhancing and improving Derby’s economy and cultural offer. The redevelopment of this site and wide improvements to Market Place have been a longstanding regeneration priority,” they concluded.
“I appreciate that concerns remain about the form of the application and the level of detail before us, but I am very mindful of the contractual connection and strong vision that aligns between the Council as applicant and its formally appointed developer partners.”
The scheme will be decided by Derby City Council’s planning committee on 14 May.
Plans and reports relating to the application can be found on Derby City Council’s planning portal under reference: 26/00042/OUT
