DERBY SKYLINE

Derby Cityscape's plan for The Spot is a 400ft tower with a periscope to let people see the city's skyline. The Market Place, Osnabruck Square, the Peter Hilton Memorial Gardens, Cathedral Green and the Castle Ward would all be transformed as part of the same programme. Also planned is a water feature in the Market Place, an orangery at the Sir Peter Hilton Memorial Gardens and changes to Osnabruck Square.

The Market Place would see the creation of a river-like water feature flowing through its centre and there would also be the creation of a lit area or arena for performing artists. An orangery would be created at the Memorial Gardens, which would remain as they are, but a glass building would be built around them and seating would be created inside to make it a popular meeting point in all weathers.

The changes planned for Osnabruck Square would result in the various small buildings, such as the cafe, being moved, the area being re-paved, and an artwork being created in the centre. The cafe and other buildings would be moved next to the Market Hall, with a glass canopy placed over the top of them to unite their appearance. It is not known exactly how much such a structure would cost, but a similar one in Dublin cost £2.96m. Cityscape admits the plan is aspirational, and says the opinions of residents and city planners are still to be considered. (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Sep/06)

Plans for a 400ft tower are to be scrapped after residents said the city was not ready for such a radical installation. Derby City Council's deputy leader and cabinet member for economic development, Dave Roberts, said, "A single spike was inconsistent with the area. There is the possibility of a cafeteria design for The Spot which may or may not be in the form of a sailing boat and the spike could be part of the mast in the cafe. It would serve as a focal point and meeting place for people in the city centre. Cafes have been really successful in areas like Birmingham and Solihull at bringing the community together. We still definitely want some form of landmark for that area but I think we need to look out how it would be used as well."

A spokeswoman for Derby Cityscape said following the public consultation into plans for the city's open spaces, residents did not feel Derby was ready for such a feature. She said, "One of the things that came out of public consultation was that the spike wasn't the best solution to that area. What did come out was that 66% of people agreed The Spot needed to change and needed to have a landmark building but the spike was not seen as the best idea. Instead people wanted something unique to the city and possibly something reflecting Rolls-Royce or the aerospace industry. What the proposals did was feel the temperature for change at The Spot and it seems a great place for that change." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Mar/07)

It may come nowhere near to rivalling the famous view of Manhattan, but Derby's skyline could be in line for an illuminating makeover. So long coupled with the famous Co-op cow dominating the approach to the city from nearly all directions, bosses at the Midlands Co-op store are now hoping to shed a little light on the city at night. Proposals for Central Hall, in Exchange Street and East Street, and its famous green dome to be bathed in coloured lights were approved by members of Derby City Council's planning control committee.

The dome would be lit up in green, the ledges in red and the columns in clear light under the proposals. But, already, objections have been logged by conservationists who fear it will ruin the character of one of Derby's most important and prominent listed buildings. Members of the city council's conservation area advisory committee have already met to discuss the proposal and recommended it be refused on the grounds that the floodlights would amount to a form of "light pollution". Their opposition is based on the belief that any floodlight-type feature of the kind proposed would introduce an "inappropriate alien feature" to the city skyline as well as the surrounding buildings.

Planning officers have given permission - on the condition that any colour scheme be agreed to by the council before being installed. Derby historian Maxwell Craven, said, "I think it's just too much - it's a good building but it doesn't need to be lit up like an ocean liner. I think a bit more restraint might be in order." Stuart Todd, city council planning officer, said, "I think the idea is that we'll be able to see the building from quite some distance. There will need to be some further discussion on the precise indication of what kind of colours we're talking about having on the building."

Julie Cooper, of Midlands Co-op, said the company wanted to make what they considered to be already the most prominent section of Derby's skyline even more attractive once darkness had fallen. "Central Hall is already an attractive building during the day and what we're trying to do is enhance its appearance during the evening," she said. "This would include illuminating the dome as well as providing further lighting for the lower parts of the building. At the moment it's not showing off to its full potential and if this goes through it's going to be a dominant change to the skyline at night - it's going to be something quite different."