Council may buy historic Mills site
SUBHEAD 16PT NEWS SUBHEAD SUBHED
PLANS to transform the historic Belper Mills site into apartments are in jeopardy and the council may have to purchase the property to ensure it is cared for.
Two-and-a-half years ago, property FI Real Estate Management (FIREM) submitted plans to convert the 200-year-old listed site into 117 apartments.
Amber Valley Borough Council now says if further details are not provided by the end of March, the application will be refused on the grounds of “insufficient information” and the authority will look at forcibly buying the freehold.
It is a landmark part of Derbyshire’s industrial heritage on the A6 but has fallen into disrepair.
FIREM has been repeatedly called on to provide further documents on the condition of the building, financial viability of the project and a detailed schedule of works to be carried out, but these have not yet been submitted. The firm says it will meet the council’s deadline of March 31.
Nevertheless, the authority is drawing up plans to serve a repairs notice on the owners to ensure the building does not deteriorate further than it already has.
In a report discussed at a cabinet meeting on the evening of March 17, it wrote: “An ultimate extension of time until March 31 has been agreed with the applicants to allow for receipt and analysis of all outstanding reports.
“Should this not be met, it will result in a refusal on the grounds of insufficient information, and this could be done quite quickly.”
Councillor Ben Bellamy, the authority’s deputy leader and Belper ward member, confirmed the council was exploring plans to compulsory purchase the site from the owners. He said the historic mill complex could be turned into a hotel, apartments, businesses and shops.
“Talks have taken place with Historic England and Derbyshire County Council about securing the future of the mills. I see a hotel, apartments, businesses and shops, all complementing the museum.
“If the owners cannot satisfy us that they have a viable scheme and don’t get planning permission, we will take steps to move towards a compulsory purchase.
“Grant funding will be sought and we will look to be working with several partners to deliver a scheme and save the mills. The whole scheme is huge and could take several years to comple.
“We have a duty to UNESCO to look after our World Heritage Site and that is what we propose to do.”
During the meeting, Cllr Emma Monkman said: “I really welcome this and I think it is desperately sad that this opportunity is being wasted. For it to fall further into disrepair is just criminal. It is such an incredible landmark and so important to the people of Belper.”
Cllr Kevin Buttery, opposition leader, said he really wanted the building to be restored but was concerned this was just an election “publicity stunt”.
Cllr Chris Emmas-Williams, leader of the council, said: “Hopefully, if the application comes to fruition, as it should, we won’t have to go to compulsory purchase.”
The council report says the cost of a compulsory purchase “are likely to be significant” and there may be “unrecoverable” costs to the authority even if another agency helps fund it.
Julian Townsend, the council’s executive director of operations, said funding for a compulsory purchase and development of the site could be applied for through the Government’s levelling-up fund.
First applications to this fund are due by the end of June but are said to require “spade-ready” plans, which Amber Valley does not have, he said.
He said the authority would more likely apply in a later stage of applications and would seek the support of the Local Enterprise Partnership.
A spokesperson for FIREM said: “We are continuing to work closely with Amber Valley Council to provide the necessary planning application documents for Belper Mills.
“While Covid has impacted on the procurement and completion of such documents, including those most recently requested, we are confident of being equipped to issue these as planned within the coming weeks.”
The firm had hoped the planning application would be discussed and decided before the end of 2019, following the request from Historic England for an extensive condition survey and tweaks to the design.
That plan includes retaining and replacing the windows. The East Mill renovation would also include “internal amenity for residents with terrace areas as ‘winter gardens’”. Its ground floor would be home to leisure facilities and a residents-only gym.
Work would be done to connect the mill complex to the river gardens. This would include a walkway from the footbridge at the weir side of the building to the courtyard via the main East Mill entrance.
The architecture of Strutt House would be “simplified” to create an “eye-catching” retail offer, modern office building, wedding venue or restaurant.
Later extensions, not part of the original removed.
The Engine House would also be restored to its original industrial appearance and the Turbine House would be converted into a café or restaurant.
A viewing platform overlooking the river gardens could also be included at the top of the East Mill’s west tower. The North Mill would have a glazed roof installed to improve its use for events.
The former soft-play area Chucklebuttiesm which closed in May 2019 could be retained as a “play-gym” and upgraded.
An existing nursery in The Pavilion could be retained or converted into a café or restaurant to “maximise the riverside setting”.
A new car park “deck” could also be built along the current access road to the river gardens parking area.
The first mill building, the South Mill, was built on the site in 1776 by Jedidiah Strutt, with operations continuing at the site until the early 1990s when cotton spinning in the East Mill came to a close after more than 200 years.
It was given UNESCO World Heritage Status in 2001. The mill complex once employed 2,000 people in the town. design, would be
If the application comes to fruition, as it should, we won’t have to go to purchase.
Cllr Chris EmmasWilliams
GREEN fields in Derbyshire are due to be built on ahead of industrial sites in Derby, to the disappointment of councillors.
Members of Amber Valley Borough Council have been increasingly opposed to helping Derby out with providing adequate land for housing.
Derby has a range of large former industrial sites which have been vacant for years and not developed, largely due to the huge cost of doing so for any interested firms, with profits likely to be much lower after factoring in the price of remediation.
The city council says it has a finite and reducing number of potential housing sites “until such a time as the city boundary is expanded”.
Councillors expressed their disquiet about Derby’s contribution to housing sites as they approved plans for 600 homes and a new primary on the city’s outskirts.
The new development will be built off Radbourne Lane in Mackworth, stretching from the wellknown water tower up to Ashbourne Road.
Amber Valley Borough Council’s planning committee approved the plans, from Miller Homes and Redrow Homes, last night (March 15).
Council officers argued that the 600-home development, which would include 180 affordable homes, would provide significant public benefits and would help both Derby and Amber Valley meet their housing needs.
Rob Duckworth, the borough council’s principal planning officer, said Amber Valley had a duty to cooperate with
Derby to help it meet its unmet housing needs.
Councillors debated last week that they were, at best, disgruntled at this policy and wished not to continue with it, especially if it meant homes were built on sites which they would rather were left free of development.
Mr Duckworth said that the site was ideal, saying: “There is a lot of benefit for Amber Valley and for Derby on this.
“I would suggest that this assists in the reduction of other green field developments in and around the vicinity, simply because it is taking a huge chunk of any housing required, sticking right on the edge of Derby, which is a fantastic place for it.
“It is unfortunate that it is greenfield, but there couldn’t really be any better place, when it is meeting both Amber Valley’s targets and Derby’s targets as well.
“We are not obligated to take Derby’s supply but we do have a duty to cooperate.
“With various local planning authorities there has to be this duty to cooperate and because Derby literally hasn’t got the land available for their anticipated and required growth, they have asked all neighbouring local authorities to take some of their burden and, where, possible, those neighbouring authorities have.
“We can turn them away but in this instance we feel the public benefit of this and the exceptional location of it, it would seem rather unpragmatic to refuse it just on the basis that we are not obligated to take the housing.
Cllr Jane Orton, the area’s ward member, said: “My biggest concern is that this was green fields growing crops and I’d like everybody to be mindful of the fact that if we keep building on our green fields, where we grow our food, we as a nation are going to start becoming short of food.”
She said residents have got behind the project, after feeling it was inevitable. Cllr Orton said: “I think now, in future, we don’t really have to be taking Derby’s houses, so I am hoping this is one of the last times we are going to be bringing something to the planning board saying we are having to take them for Derby.
“I don’t really see there is going to be a need and I really think they need to start taking their own houses and building on their brownfield sites.”
Cllr Dave Wells said: “There are lots of positives with this proposal. It will provide new homes for 600 families, which is great. We keep saying we need new homes in the right places and 30 per cent of these will be affordable.
“Whether they are in the right place I am not so clear. Like Cllr Orton, I have misgivings about them being on a greenfield site, but at least the site is not green belt.”
Cllr Wells asked for an informative to be attached to the application approval formally advising the developer to ensure they consider renewable energy, enhanced insulation and low carbon energy uses on the site, in line with the council’s aim to combat climate change which was approved.
A spokesperson for Derby City Council said: “The councils work under a duty to cooperate, which means working together to try to find sites for the growth irrespective of administrative boundaries.
“This was enhanced with a signed memorandum of understanding where the housing market area authorities have agreed to work proactively to meet the overall housing needs.
“For the previous round of local plans, which extend to 2028, the Derby ‘need’ was 16,000 houses of which 5,500 was accommodated in Amber Valley and South Derbyshire under the duty to cooperate.
“Until such a time as the city boundary is expanded, we have a finite and ever reducing number of viable brownfield sites to bring forward to meet Derby’s future housing needs.
“For future site allocations, a similar approach is needed to deliver sustainable housing developments.
“The duty to cooperate and plan without formal boundaries to meet growth and need should be the result of that. “Therefore in considering future housing need beyond 2028 for the next round of local plans, the housing market area authorities will need to continue to cooperate with each other to establish how and where this need can best be met.”
The approved Mackworth plans will include 40 acres of open space – around the same proportion taken up by homes - which will be maintained by a management company formed between locals and the developers, for which residents of the site will pay for.
Also in the plans are a play park, improved pavements in the surrounding area, bus taster tickets for adult residents, a bus service for the development, funding to support a speed reduction from 40mph to 30mph on Radbourne Lane as well as a parking permit plan, £389,000 for improvements at Markeaton Park, £2.8 million for improvements at Ecclesbourne School and a new primary school on the Mackworth site.
The Arriva Route 9 (Derby City to Mackworth) would be extended to serve the development, with Derby City Council specifying that this must offer services every 30 minutes between Monday and Saturday.
We are not obligated to take Derby’s supply but we do have a duty to cooperate. Planning officer Rob Duckworth