A CGI of a proposed redevelopment of Eagle Market in Derby

Outline proposals for a redevelopment of Derby's Eagle Market is set to move forward. Credit: Leonard Design/Derbion via Planning Portal

‘Exciting times’ for Derby as Eagle Market plan takes off

15 December 2025 16:34 Mike Sheridan Comments (0)

The council’s chief planner says he hopes to see “more intensive, taller” buildings in Derby city centre, after a proposed 670-home development took another step forward.

Outline plans put forward by shopping-centre owner Derbion would see up to 674 homes built in six new buildings, alongside 33,000 sq ft of commercial space on the site of the former Eagle Market building, which would be demolished as part of the scheme.

Planning officers will now set about negotiating a Section 106 agreement with the developer before detailed applications can be brought forward for the scheme, following go-ahead from the city council’s planning control committee last week.

And the scheme was welcomed by the council’s chief planning officer Paul Clarke, who told a meeting of the city council’s planning control committee it was an “exciting time to be in Derby” – adding that he hoped to see greater numbers of more intensive schemes brought forward for city centre sites.

The regeneration plan is part of scaled back proposals for the site, which originally would have seen 870 homes built up to 29-storeys high on the 4.6-acre site.

Derby Theatre would be retained as part of the updated proposals, with a new public square built along with footpath links to the new Eastern Gateway as part of a scheme of public improvements for this site.

The project team behind the development includes Eurofund Group, Leonard Design, Currie and Brown, Lichfields, Bidwells and Waterman Group.

A report put to city council by the council’s planning officers said the market building, now occupied by an indoor skatepark and indoor padel centre, offered “little in terms of architectural merit to the city or its skyline.”

“As such the demolition and removal, of the building, would be of a benefit to the city creating an opportunity for re-development and the introduction of a gateway to the city centre from the east,” it said.

“This application would, in my opinion, through the delivery of a residential led masterplan in the core city centre, regenerate an underused and depreciated prominent gateway location, creating a new city centre community that will support the city and rejuvenate its purpose following a shift in retail trends.”