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CRUCIAL CITY PROPOSALS WOULD PULL IN BUSINESS AND VISITORS
Date : 12.01.08
A Decision on three major schemes which could see big changes to the skyline of Derby will be made next week.
Councillors will meet on Thursday to consider separate proposals for a £25m Jurys Inn hotel, a £15m retail and office block in Cathedral Road and the transformation of the city's grade II-listed former magistrates' court and police station.
Council leader Chris Williamson said all three developments, which are being recommended for approval, were crucial to the development of the future of the city.
"In the past, we have not been able to attract top companies from central London which would create new jobs for the people of Derby.
"But with the transformation that the city is currently going through, and will continue to go through, we hope to able to do so," he said.
"The developments will increase the footfall into the Cathedral Quarter of the city, assisting businesses there."
Mr Williamson said the hotel development would help Derby market itself as a weekend break destination.
The first key decision that the planning committee will make is the proposed 117ft tall, 226-bed Jurys Inn which could be built on the former Bridgegate BMW site.
As well as the hotel, the building will include 89 apartments, a bar and restaurant, a casino and 65 parking spaces.
Building could start later this year and the hotel, the first phase of the scheme, completed by spring next year.
But an independent group has objected to the development, saying that its height would have a detrimental effect on the city skyline.
City-based historian Maxwell Craven is the chairman of the Conservation Area Advisory Committee.
"We have objected to this in every conceivable way," he said. "What we would like to see on the site is something absolutely fantastic and of historical benefit to the city and this does not fit the bill."
The second application is for the former Sixt Kenning vehicle hire site in Cathedral Road.
Investment company Bolserstone wants to turn the site into office units, with work possibly starting this spring and completion by early next year.
Duncan Grant, development director with Bolserstone, was positive about the scheme, despite the recent credit crunch. He said: "We would not have spent the time and money without being confident that the product is going to have a market."
The third scheme is the £30m transformation of the former magistrates' court and police station in Full Street.
Developer Wilson Bowden bought the site for £4.25m in 2004 and is proposing to build 125 apartments, up to four restaurants and 95,000 square feet of office space.
Of the 125 apartments, 51 would be in the former magistrates' court and the remaining 74 would be new-build apartments which would be accessed via a courtyard off Full Street. If planning permission is granted, it could be completed by the end of 2009.
John Cadwallader, chief executive of Derby Cityscape, said: "Full Street has been on the drawing board for four years and, although we have been disappointed with the delay, we are assured that this has given the developers time to really scrutinise the designs to ensure that it will be in keeping with the area and particularly the revitalised Cathedral Green."
The meeting will take place at the Council House at 6pm.
Article Courtesy of Derby Evening Telegraph