9-storey apartment block opposite Derby Cathedral set for approval despite concerns
A nine-storey tower of nearly 200 apartments opposite Derby Cathedral is set for approval despite concerns over its height and warnings from international heritage officials. The plans, from Wavensmere D3 Limited, would see 195 apartments, a cafe and a gym built off Full Street in Derby city centre, forming phase two of the “Cathedral Green” development on the derelict former police station site, next to the Premier Inn.
If approved, the development, next to the River Derwent, close to the Assembly Rooms, Silk Mill and associated river-side seating area, would have nine parking spaces for cars and 40 spots for bikes. Derby City Council planners have recommended that the plans are approved at a meeting on Thursday, October 3, with councillors to make the final decision.
Officers say the project would increase the variety of housing options in the area and provide high-quality accommodation, with the proposed benefits overriding concerns over highway safety and residential amenity. A report prepared for the meeting details that the proposed site has been derelict since 2013 and that previously approved plans for offices and 46 apartments on the site were not progressed due to changes in the economy.
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It claims the development is the “final piece of this important regeneration jigsaw” with the area becoming home to vandalism and fly-tipping, leading to it being obscured by a street-art installation. The planned nine-storey apartment complex has been tweaked in a bid to lessen the impact on the nearby cathedral and Silk Mill, and wider impact on the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.
In August, UNESCO asked that the plans should not be approved and be withdrawn and redrawn, with a further tweaked version to be submitted to the World Heritage Centre before any decision is made. The scheme forms part of the overall series of “grave concerns” UNESCO has over the Derwent Valley Mills’ continued world heritage status due to repeated “inappropriate” developments.
This includes numerous Derby and Belper developments which could pose a threat to the continuation of the area’s world heritage status. The sides of the building facing the cathedral would have a recessed top floor in a bid to reduce its impact.
If approved, the building would have 36 studio apartments, 133 one-bed apartments, 17 two-bed apartments and nine “duplexes”. A total of 13 objection letters and three letters of support have been submitted to the council, with concerns raised over the change from offices to apartments and the feared impact on the historic heritage site while supporters backed the investment in the city centre.
In May this year, cathedral officials, while supporting the site’s development, wrote that they “need to be reassured that the view and light from windows in the cathedral are not compromised” and that the amended reduction in the planned building’s height was “modest”. Cllr Alison Martin wrote an objection letter detailing: “The height of the proposed block will overshadow a key historic landmark in the city – the cathedral tower – and the style of the building neither conforms with the many historic buildings in Cathedral Green nor complements them by contrasting with them in a more innovative style and form.
“It is not in keeping with all the listed buildings in that vicinity, notably the cathedral but also the historic Silk Mill, now the Museum of Making, which forms part of the World Heritage Site. This ‘Cathedral One’ development offers nothing to enhance Cathedral Green as a meeting and events space, but rather closes off the southern end of the Green and will amass or loom over the Green in a way that will diminish its appeal as a public gathering space in the city centre.
“In short, this proposed apartment block is too tall and too functionalist, and it detracts from the historic nature of the area whilst offering nothing to enhance the riverside or the Green as a public space.” Historic England says the changes to the development’s designs have “alleviated” their concerns over the impact on the cathedral and “competition” with the tower of the Silk Mill.
It writes: “The principle of the scheme is welcomed on this site due to the prolonged vacancy and subsequent treatments to make the site secure. These have detrimental impacts on the DVMWHS and the surrounding listed buildings. We are supportive of providing a use for the site. The impact of the building on Derby Cathedral due to its height and the significant stained-glass windows has been alleviated by the overall reduction in height of the proposal.”
Meanwhile, the Derwent Valley Mills Partnership has continued to object to the scheme, detailing: “The Silk Mill’s setting is already significantly eroded by the (red brick) residential block east of the river, the Jury’s Inn and the planned Landmark building (17-storey tower of 202 apartments in Phoenix Street). The change in appearance from the previously approved scheme is considered to harm the setting of the Silk Mill and consequently reduces the asset’s significance.
“It is difficult to understand the public benefit the scheme delivers that outweighs these negative impacts. It is agreed, however, that Cathedral Green might benefit from containment. A more recessive façade treatment, more in line with the previous approval, is less likely to impact on outstanding universal value.”
The developer would be contributing £10,000 towards a traffic regulation order on Full Street to reduce the length of the taxi rank to create the development’s new vehicle access. Council officers, recommending approval, wrote: “The proposed residential use would increase the variety and amount of housing delivery hence the proposal is considered to be acceptable in principle in this residential area.
“The proposal would provide a high-quality living environment for the future occupants, regarding room sizes and access to natural daylight, which would be provided. The proposal would not cause any overriding adverse impact on highway safety or residential amenity.”
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