Deli and eatery set for vacant goods yard site
LISTED BUILDINGS TO BE PRESERVED BUT CONCERN OVER RAZING OF SOME RAILWAY ARCHES
TWO Derby listed buildings will be preserved for future generations as part of a £75 million revitalisation plan for a vacant site close to the city centre.
The Friar Gate Goods Yard site’s two Grade II-listed buildings, the Bonded Warehouse and Engine House, which have been in serious disrepair for some time due to fire damage, will be rebuilt as a restaurant and delicatessen and as the headquarters for developer Wavensmere Homes.
The project, which will also result in the construction of 276 homes, was approved by the planning and control committee of the city council, but not before concerns were raised about the plans’ inclusion of the demolition of some of the railway arches that border the Friar Gate Bridge.
The city’s Conservation and Heritage Advisory Committee said that without the arches: “The bridge would sit oddly within the streetscape, unbalanced and reduced to a curiosity or ornament, thereby watering down the historic legibility of this bridge as part of a vast railway system. Moreover, the bridge and arches are immortalised in the song Underneath the Arches, a popular song from 1932 by Bud Flanagan and Reg Connelly.”
However, according to chief planning officer Paul Clarke, several of the arches have structural issues that make them unworkable.
Derby Telegraph readers have been expressing their opinions about the proposals.
Commenter Grabbags wrote: “I’m old enough to have visited the Goods Yard buildings when they were occupied. That they are saving the old buildings is lovely and rare in these ‘knock ‘em down’ days.”
The KeyClubKing agreed: “The proposal looks fantastic, it regenerates an area that has been derelict for over 50 years, and is one of the most prominent buildings in the city that is being saved.”
Kevinsouthwest said he was “delighted that the original railway buildings are being repurposed, I hope that the mention of retaining arches and facades can be meaningful and help give the bridge some real presence; I appreciate the structures are probably unsafe.” Eyupmeduck60 was also concerned about the arches: “I’m sure everyone is grateful that it finally looks like something positive is finally going to happen with this remarkable heritage site, but if they can save the dilapidated main warehouse, then surely they can also save all of the blue brick arches, even the ones with so-called structural issues!” Beaufort1 had a different point of view: “I can understand saving historic buildings like the Guildhall but the sentimentality towards some battered old arches, used as workshops for years, is lost on me. Providing the bridge is saved and renovated I really don’t care about the dilapidated arches, they have no great merit. Just because something is old doesn’t make it a worthwhile project to throw money at.”
Wavensmere Homes anticipates beginning construction this summer and potential operators have already expressed a great deal of interest in occupying the reworked site.
■ How do you feel about this project, do you think the arches are worth saving? Have your say by emailing opinion@derbytelegraph.co.uk
That they are saving the old buildings is lovely and rare in these ‘knock ‘em down’ days. Grabbags