Riverside Developments
Mike Wingfield, our Vice Chairman, has been leading our new Riverside Development Group who have been developing river based ideas. Progress has been made in conjunction with council flood defence work and we are hoping to work with the council’s contractor to develop riverside flood plain gardens to include boat activity. This will be enhanced by our connection to a group with a city wide approach called the Nature Collective. We are keen to ensure that this Group, who will naturally focus on green spaces, builds in our “blue” ideas. We hope to ensure success by ensuring a consistent and coordinated message to the council. It also gives us access to the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, Natural England and Down to Earth which is very helpful and may also enable easier access to funding, given that green issues seem to attract more backers at present.
Overall it is a very positive time in Derby with the opening of the Becketwell performance centre expected in a few months. This has a capacity of up to 3,000 and should attract more visitors and local residents into the city centre. The Guildhall is also scheduled for reopening soon and with £20m investment in the two theatres there should be a much more welcoming city centre. We then just need to invigorate the river to make the job complete! We also hear that Rolls-Royce is buoyant and with increased profitability we are hopeful that they will see the value in supporting the city’s development for both its existing and new employees.
