£2 Billion Project Gathers Momentum For Derby City Centre

These are very exciting times for the people of 
Derby and the future of the city centre. After7. Cathedral Green has been given a much
many years of very little investment in the city,needed facelift via complete re-landscaping of the
the Government has set the ball rolling on planningarea. It is now an attractive public space situated
major development projects and vaston the banks of the river Derwent, with the
improvements to the city centre’sCathedral as a backdrop.
infrastructure to mark the start of rejuvenating 
the whole area.Developments Planned for 2010
In April 2003, Derby Cityscape Ltd was 
established as the urban regeneration companyRiverlights Complex - £100million will be invested
for Derby and created plans for the city including,into creating a riverside complex which will
a new Further Education college, significantcomprise of a state-of-the-art bus station, 2
expansion of the Eagle Centre, housinghotels (Holiday Inn and Hilton Hampton) as well as
developments by the riverside, and proposals forshops and restaurants. The bus station is
Connecting Derby – which represents majorexpected to be operational in the first half of this
investment into improving transport links into andyear.
out of the city centre. 
 St Helen’s Street - £22million is set aside for
The Masterplan was created and unveiled in 2005the development of an eco-friendly housing
and work has been progressing on the plans everproject which will eventually provide 180 family
since, but 5 years on - how far have thehomes comprising of a mix of affordable housing
developments come?and private sales. Phase 1 will see the
 development of 40 one and two bedroom houses
Achievementsand is expected to be complete in July 2010.
  
1. The Westfield Centre, created as a result of aDerby Railway Station Gateway – This
£340m extension to the old Eagles Shoppingmulti-million pound regeneration program for the
Centre, was opened by Tess Daly in Octoberrailway station is broken down into 2 schemes.
2007. It has over 150 shops, a large cinema andThe first is for a transport interchange at the
many places to eat. In 2008 the centre receivedstation forecourt to make the integration
over 23 million visitors.between different modes of transport more
 efficient and reduce traffic congestion. £1.75m of
2. In September 2008, Derby celebrated thethe £1.8m funding for this has now been
opening of QUAD, the city’s new centre forapproved by EMDA and ERDF, and the balance will
Contemporary Art and Film comprising of an artbe met by Derby City Council.
gallery, cinema, cafe bar and workshop. SinceThe second scheme will see the refurbishment of
then the venue has been visited by over 223,000a derelict building next to the station to be used
people.for employment space. The £1.3m funding for
 this scheme has already been secured from
3. In February 2009 the iconic Cathedral bridgeEMDA, Network Rail and The Railway Heritage
was finished which went on to win the Small CivilTrust. The commencement of work on both
Engineering Project 2009 award at the Britishschemes is planned for summer 2010.
Constructing Industry awards. 
 Friar Gate Square – Planning permission for
4. June 2009 marked the opening of thethis £20million development has recently been
Jury’s Inn hotel situated in the heart of theobtained which will see the creation of two
city’s vibrant Cathedral Quarter. The smart,landmark office buildings providing 100,000sq ft of
clean and contemporary looking hotel has 213quality office space. A pedestrian link will also be
bedrooms as well as 5 rooms for businessprovided to the historic Friar Gate railway bridge.
meetings. 
  
5. In September 2009, The Roundhouse openedIn The Pipeline
its doors to thousands of Derby College students 
as the sensitively-restored building became theThere are also at least 5 other projects to be
College’s flagship site. Recognition of thesescheduled in the following phase of Derby
efforts came in the form of the coveted HeritageCity’s regeneration which have all had planning
Award and also the Project of the Year award atpermission approved.
the Constructing Excellence EM Regional AwardsThese include a combination of city centre housing
2009.developments, further top quality office space at
 Cathedral Green, improvements to the traditional
6. £22 million has already been invested inheritage and retail areas in Sadler Gate and a retail
upgrading the platforms and renewing theand office space complex on Cathedral road.
canopies at Derby’s bustling railway station.