Planners put brakes on ‘blocky’ Market Place plan
A £100m regeneration plan for Derby city centre will go back to the drawing board, after the council’s planning committee asked for more clarity on a design code for the proposals.
An application to redevelop Derby’s desolate Market Place put forward by the city council would see three buildings rising from the brutalist ruins of the city’s former Assembly Rooms as part of a “culture-led” redevelopment plan, which also includes offices and a six-storey hotel.
A catastrophic fire in 2014 closed the brutalist assembly rooms building for good, leaving a “footfall wilderness” in the middle of the city, where artists including The Smiths, Iron Maiden and Elton John once performed.
Although the application was submitted in outline form only, the council’s planning committee narrowly decided to defer the proposals for two months due to councillors fears that a design code intended to satisfy heritage concerns was too restrictive – and would leave Derby looking like “any other city”.
Council-appointed developers Ion Developments and Vinci said it had worked hard to address the concerns on the application, adding that it was designed to “minimise” the support required from the public sector.
The £100m redevelopment is being funded through a number of private and public sector contributions, with around £60m of public money being ploughed into the scheme.
The authority’s planning department had recommended approval ahead of the meeting on 14 May, despite standing objections from the council’s urban design and built environment teams over a lack of detail in the proposals.
But, conversely, it was the presence of too much detail which concerned the planning committee, with Liberal Democrat councillor Lucy Care telling the meeting that the supplied code would tie the hands of architects drumming up a detailed proposal.
“I’m really concerned that if we go with the detail in the design code presented to us tonight we’ll end up with something that looks rather like what’s been presented – rather square, rather bulky and rather unimaginative frankly. I believe that Derby deserves better,” she said.
“What I think we’re being sold is something which makes Derby look like any other city. I don’t think it has the flair and imagination.”
A vote on the application was split down the middle, with chair Cllr Jerry Pearce reluctantly casting a deciding vote in favour of a deferral.
The decision left councillors who had spoken in favour of the scheme shaking their heads.
“What we have at the moment as we all know is an abandoned building, allowing the site to remain in this condition is having a highly negative impact on the rest of the city centre. It’s in effect sucking the life out of this part of the city,” said Cllr Martin Rawson.
“A lot of time and effort has gone into developing these proposals and from my point of view they look really good.”
Updated proposals will come back before the committee in July.
Plans and reports relating to the application can be found on Derby City Council’s planning portal under reference: 26/00042/OUT
