DERBY CITYSCAPE

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A £3m centre in Ford Street to house graphic design, music production, film-making and computer game firms has been approved. The building will have office space for 40 businesses, meeting rooms and a café. The centre has been designed to provide the space, layout, broadband access and location necessary for small creative businesses that have outgrown places like Network House, at the University of Derby and Banks' Mill studios, in Bridge Street. It is hoped that the likes of EM Media, which is part of the UK Film Council and Arts Council England in the East Midlands will set up bases at the centre.

The studios were officially opened in November last year and the city council hoped that by now it would be a base for up to 40 creative businesses. But the studios are expected to have a £150,000 overspend by the end of this month. The reason for the overspend has been put down to just a handful of units being let. The council is now analysing the rent rates at the studios compared to those for similar businesses across the city. (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Nov/07)

Plans are being drawn up to build more than 5,000 new homes in Derby city centre which would mean a four-fold increase in housing in the city centre, from about 1,500 homes currently to more than 6,500 in a few years' time. Under the plans, the city's Castle Ward area alone, bordered by Traffic Street, Derby railway station and Derbyshire Royal Infirmary, would see housing increase by a massive 1,400%, from 200 homes currently to an "urban village" containing 3,000 new homes, civic squares and a new primary school.

John Cadwallader, chief executive of Derby Cityscape, said the main departure from the original estimate was the proposed regeneration of Castle Ward, which would act as a "gateway" to the city centre from the railway station. "It will mean building, in the main, on existing car park sites. There's an awful lot of open, undeveloped space," said Mr Cadwallader.

The council documents have also revealed that up to 250 new riverside homes are being earmarked for Meadow Road, a site currently occupied by the Evening Telegraph offices and the Trent Barton bus depot, although neither firm has indicated any intention to relocate. Mr Cadwallader said, "We are not in the business of moving vibrant businesses and facilities out of the city centre. But in the event that the DET or Trent wanted to be elsewhere, then the appropriate use for that site would be for a residential development."

Derby Cityscape is a limited company supported by private and public organisations, including Derby City Council, the East Midlands Development Agency and English Partnerships, and was set up to aid development in the city centre. Areas that have already been identified for regeneration include the riverside area, Duckworth Square, Friar Gate and Cathedral Row as well as the Litchurch and Castle wards and improvements to areas such as the Market Place. Work to draw up a master plan, which will be unveiled next spring, is due to start in August. It has already been revealed that one of the first additions to the city will be a £750,000 footbridge across the River Derwent to link Cathedral Green, which is off Full Street, and Stuart Street.

Planning permission has been granted for Ashbourne-based Derby City Living Ltd to build 76 apartments in Stuart Street, on the former Eggleston Brothers site in a £14m project. Architectural and civil engineering firms will be invited to tender for designing and building the bridge later in the year. Michael Hall, acting chief executive of Derby Cityscape, said, "Consultation with the people of Derby about the opportunities for development will be key to the success of Derby Cityscape. Although the regeneration master plan for the whole Cityscape area has not been finalised, it is widely acknowledged that this footbridge will be key to future plans.

It will link two key areas of the city centre and will open up under-used public space close to the Silk Mill, which forms the gateway to the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site." Bob Laxton, MP for Derby North, said, "Derby needs to develop and we need to get more life back into the city and one of the long-standing issues is to try to get more people to make use of the river." Maurice Burgess, leader of Derby City Council, said, "The idea of a footbridge could enhance the area." The ambitious scheme to breathe new life into Derby city centre will cost £50m more than was originally expected.

It had been calculated that the number of residential, office and leisure developments would cost about £225m. But, on closer inspection, the Cityscape project is now expected to need £275m worth of investment. Michael Hall, who is the acting chief executive of Derby Cityscape, said, "We've had a closer look at all of the different projects and we have worked out the amount that would have to be spent to achieve all the projects that have been identified. This is now estimated to be around £275m."

To fund the various projects that are put forward under the Cityscape vision, money will come from a range of public and private companies. Board members come from a range of organisations and companies from across Derby, which aim to help create a city-wide vision of development.

Board members include Norman Askew; Jeff Moore, deputy chief executive of the East Midlands Development Agency; Dennis Hone, director of English Partnerships; Councillor Philip Hickson, deputy leader of Derby City Council; Peter Richardson, chief executive of The Derbyshire Building Society; Paul Kearney, managing director of the Derby Evening Telegraph; Peter Gadsby, chairman of Cedar House Investments; Ray Cowlishaw, chief executive of Derby City Council; Peter Miller, development director of Westfield; Nick Richardson, managing director of Wilson Bowden Developments Ltd; and David Williams, senior partner of Edwards and Geldard.

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