Historic England’s planning director has denied its offer to fund work on new rules governing the development of tall buildings in Derby is a way of trying to stop them being built.
Derbyshire Live writes:
Historic England says it will pay up to 80 per cent of the costs of Derby City Council researching and formulating a tall buildings strategy that will inform future decisions by planners. Some developers already feel that the city is a difficult place to get permission for developments of significant scale – but conservation campaigners want formal restrictions on the areas where tall buildings can go.
The council says it wants to update its policies in this area as they were written a decade ago – and Historic England, the public body set up to champion the nation’s heritage, says it will foot most of the bill because of the potential benefits for heritage conservation.
It’s an offer that has raised some eyebrows. But Louise Brennan, Historic England’s planning director, denies they want to put a block on development. She said: ‘We have a long history of working with Derby City Council to help them shape how development happens in the city. A tall buildings strategy is an important tool to help the council consider the best place for tall buildings to go. It’s important to get the design of tall buildings in the city right to ensure they can be delivered in a sustainable and successful way with minimum impact on the historic buildings and sites around them. This isn’t about stopping development but enabling the council to get the best development for this wonderful place.’
The cost of carrying out the work has not been revealed as the council is now going out to tender with the contract. A spokesman for the authority said they were trying to strike a difficult balance. ‘We all want to protect our beautiful historic buildings but, at the same time, the city cannot become a museum and conservation has to be balanced with the economic and employment needs of a 21st century city. We have worked very successfully with Historic England on a number of projects across the city, and are looking forward to continuing this work.’
Architect Justin Smith welcomed the idea of a new policy on tall buildings but questioned whether the funding support from Historic England was appropriate. He said: ‘I guess there’s a concern that there will be a bias towards protection of views of the Cathedral or other buildings. I’d hope this is not the case. The role of the policy should be to enable Derby’s progression towards a vibrant city status. To achieve vibrancy, Derby requires a denser mix of homes, workplaces and leisure buildings, and this means taller buildings…’
… The council move comes just months after plans for Derby’s tallest tower block were given the go-ahead. This will see a 13-storey building erected on the triangle of land between the Brewery Tap and Exeter Arms off Derwent Street. Meanwhile, a building dubbed ‘The Landmark’ is currently going through the city council’s planning process and, if approved, would stand at 17-storeys high on land off St Alkmund’s Way.
