Controversial plans for nine-storey apartment block recommended for approval

Controversial plans to build nearly 200 homes in a new nine-storey tower in Derby city centre, which were altered midway due to skyline concerns, have been recommended for approval.

Planning officers at Derby City Council are urging councillors to grant permission for 195 apartments on Full Street, near Derby Cathedral and the River Derwent, ahead of the meeting next week.

The development will feature apartments, a café, residential amenity space, a gym, landscaping, car and cycle parking and new vehicular access on Full Street.

One of the developers, Wavensmere Homes, has previously built homes at the former Derbyshire Royal Infirmary site and will soon start work on the Friar Gate Goods Yard site. The other developer is Wilson Bowden Developments.

At a planning meeting on Thursday, July 11, councillors are expected to grant permission for the new development subject to a Section 106 Agreement between the developer and the city council.

The “Cathedral One” development, initially submitted last autumn for 182 homes, faced criticism for its impact on the city’s skyline.

The civic society holds the view that the apartment building would “permanently damage the surroundings of the grade I listed Cathedral and the Silk Mill Gates, as well as the grade II listed Derby Silk Mill and 3, College Place,” all situated in a conservation area and within the buffer zone of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.

In response, Wavensmere Homes announced changes in March, including a reduction in height by 1.6 meters to preserve the Cathedral’s prominence.

Despite some remaining concerns from Derby Cathedral, Historic England has no objections to the revised plans.