City church is set to be bulldozed and replaced
PLANS have been submitted which would see a city centre church demolished and a new one built in its place on the same site.
Castlefields Church has been in existence since 1877 and has occupied its present site in Traffic Street since 1937.
A design and access statement has been presented to Derby City Council by the Church Growth Trust Ltd.
It states that as the last church in the area, Castlefields Church believe that it is essential that it remains “to be able to provide a much-needed evangelical witness, especially given the proposed expansion to the residential population” in the area between Midland Road and Traffic Street.
The church has reviewed the possibility of alternative sites in the immediate area and discussed these with the council.
Through discussion, these alternative sites have been discounted, and it was agreed that rebuilding on the current site was the best option.
The proposal for the replacement church building on the existing site has sought to utilise available land owned by the church in addition to the roadway and turning circle to the side and rear of the existing building.
The aim is to create a two-storey building which would provide space for worship and also rooms for “a wide range of community outreach activities. This would make the new facility a real asset to the surrounding area”.
The new building would have a lift to the first floor and a universallyaccessible parking space near to the main entrance.
Castlefields Church is an independent evangelical church. The church life is based around Biblebased worship on Sundays, prayer and bible study in midweek meetings and there is a Sunday School for children.
Castlefields is currently undergoing extensive housing development and there are plans for 800 more homes and a primary school in the area.
In recent weeks, the Central United Reformed Church in Victoria
Street has been demolished to make way for extensive redevelopment of the Becketwell area.
The reformed church’s congregation has moved to former office premises in Green Lane despite extensive plans previously for a new church to be build in the Becketwell development, but which were not followed through.
Previous churches which have been demolished in the Castlefields area include St Andrew’s in London Road, opposite the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary, most of which has now also been demolished.
The application for the Castlefields Church will be considered in full by the council’s planning department during the next eight to 12 weeks.