Several former Derbyshire council offices could be demolished to make way for more than 70 apartments.
Lancashire firm Sterling Property Limited has submitted plans to demolish a large number of properties on the former Derbyshire County Council Chatsworth Hall office complex off Wellington Street and Chesterfield Road in Matlock.
Those buildings would be replaced with a large, modern three-and-four-storey complex containing 73 apartments with Derbyshire Dales District Council to make a decision in the next few months.
In February, Lancashire firm Sterling Property Limited submitted plans to convert a number of the more historic buildings on the same site, facing Chesterfield Road, into 38 apartments. Those plans were approved by the district council officers in April.
In total, this second scheme takes the site to a proposed total of 111 apartments.
The county council’s sprawling former Chatsworth Hall office complex off Wellington Street and Chesterfield Road in Matlock was vacated early last year and put up for sale.
It left the site due to its move to hybrid staff working arrangements and increasing pressure to make savings, also leaving its site in John Hadfield House in Dale Road, which will be demolished to make way for an Aldi supermarket.
Of the planned 73 apartments to be built across the new series of buildings, just seven would be classed as affordable housing – 9.5 per cent – below the district council’s preference for 30 per cent.
The developer says the amount of affordable housing has been reduced from a policy compliant 22 affordable units due to an owed “financial credit” for developing a brownfield development containing vacant buildings.
If approved, the new series of buildings would broadly follow the same footprint of the current properties, facing onto the junction of Chesterfield Road and Wellington Street and running along Wellington Street and extending back into the site.
The first part of the site’s planned development did not include any allocated parking while this new second part of the scheme includes a total of 130 parking spaces for the combined 111 apartments.
Out of the first 38-apartment scheme, eight apartments would be one-bed, 28 would be two-bed and two would be three-bed.
Meanwhile, in the new second scheme of 73 apartments, 35 would be one-bed, 32 would be two-bed and six would be three-bed.
A statement submitted by the applicants details: “The proposed redevelopment of the former DCC campus represents a sustainable and well-considered opportunity to deliver much-needed housing within Matlock.
“The site’s brownfield status, central location, and proximity to existing services make it ideally placed for new residential development.
“The proposed redevelopment of the site delivers a well-considered and sustainable scheme that respects the historical and architectural significance of Chatsworth Hall and the wider Matlock Bank Conservation Area.
“Through the sensitive demolition of outdated buildings and the introduction of high-quality residential and commercial spaces, the development provides much-needed housing and local economic opportunities.
“Enhanced landscaping, accessible green spaces, and a robust parking and access strategy ensure the proposal is both functional and attractive, promoting community wellbeing and environmental sustainability.
“The benefits of the proposed development – notably supply of affordable and open market housing – outweigh any potential impacts such that the proposed development comprises sustainable development and should be approved without delay.”
What the proposed new apartment blocks at Chatsworth Hall in Matlock could look like. Image from Ropergate Architecture
