£7M FACELIFT FOR SQUARE 2

Derby City Council has commissioned a new regeneration organisation called Blueprint to come up with a plan for the redevelopment of Duckworth Square. Blueprint and the council are close to signing a land deal with Metropolitan, which has threatened to put the site on the open market if terms are not agreed soon. The council has so far failed to agree a purchase price for the site with Duckworth Square's owner, Metropolitan Housing Trust, which bought it for £1.5m two years ago. The development is set to include new offices for council staff, enabling the authority to vacate numerous dilapidated buildings.

Blueprint is also proposing to include a number of commercial units in Duckworth Square, and Metropolitan, or another housing provider, could build low-cost homes. David Hill, development director of Nottingham-based Metropolitan Housing, said, "We are quite happy to be a member of a group of developers for the area and allow the city council to have the office space it needs. But if our meetings get nowhere, we've no option but to market it." Metropolitan said it had received offers from three other potential buyers.

It is understood that Blueprint is also in negotiations with Eagle Centre joint owner Westfield to include the Debenhams site in the plan. Westfield is to take ownership of Debenhams once the department store moves into the new Eagle Centre extension. The demolition of Debenhams would allow the developers to open the entrance to Duckworth Square. The council has not revealed how much the scheme is likely to cost or how much Derby tax payers would have to pay towards it.

Chris Williamson, leader of the city council, said, "We are optimistic we'll be able to make a positive statement in the New Year. We're keen to redevelop that part of the city and relocate part of the council to the Becketwell area. It will not only regenerate the area, but will provide new retail and other economic development, which will be necessary when Debenhams relocates to the Eagle Centre." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph)

Derby City Council wants to build a state-of-the-art library and information centre at a cost of £20m on the Debenhams site in Victoria Street to replace the Central Library in the Wardwick. This development would release most or all of the council's current city centre buildings, including the Council House in Corporation Street, for development.

The Duckworth Square development would also see the council take over the NCP car park, in Becketwell Lane, and Victoria House, on the corner of Victoria Street and Becketwell Lane, which contains business units and the Central United Reformed Church. Council leader Maurice Burgess said, "It would be very nice if the whole site could be used. We want a modern, state- of-the-art library in the city." He added that the Council House would be "an ideal site" for a "premier" city centre hotel.

Councillors are considering teaming up with a developer after a report criticised the Central Library on The Wardwick as being small and outdated. A council report says it is impossible to bring the current building, which is 125 years old, up to standard. David Potton, head of the council's library services, said, "We don't have the range or depth of stock that we should have for a main library." The city council is currently considering whether to move its main offices to the Becket Well area of the city.

Mr Potton said a new city library could form part of the new development. He said customers had a range of concerns with the current Central Library. "The building has been extended two or three times and it's now at its capacity," said Mr Potton. "It's far too small to provide the range of services that you expect in the 21st century. People raise concerns across all sorts of levels. People complain the building is crowded and too cramped, people complain we don't have enough computers and there are issues around disabled access."

Plans to build a new main library in Derby are set to be scrapped in favour of renovating the current building. Council bosses said they were looking at keeping the current library because of soaring prices of city centre sites. Ray Rippingale, assistant director of cultural services at the council, said, "We are looking at an option...of actually redeveloping what we have got. That building is a beautiful building. The big problem with it is it's not got enough space the way it is used at the moment." A previous council report ruled out the possibility of renovating the current site.

The city council's plans to move into a new purpose built building in Duckworth Square has been thrown into further doubt after the owner of the site revealed it is preparing its own development bid. Metropolitan Housing said that two offers for the site from the council have already been made and rejected. Development director David Hill said thay cannot afford to waste any more time. Michael Foote, the council's director of corporate services and deputy chief executive, said, "As far as we are concerned, negotiations are continuing between Metropolitan and Blueprint." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Mar/06)

Metropolitan Housing is to develop the derelict Duckworth Square site into apartments and offices. The city council's dream for the site to be its new home has failed after it's bid was rejected. Council leader Chris Williamson said the council was now considering its options but said there was no possibility of new offices being built as part of the Riverlights development at the city's bus station. Mr Williamson said, "It's a bitter disappointment. We are very sorry that Metropolitan Housing was unwilling to work with us." Metropolitan's plans would create office space for about 150 workers. Most of the apartments would be sold on the open market. About a fifth would be low-cost housing and another fifth would be sold on a shared-ownership basis. (Source: BBC News, Apr/06)

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