Chesterfield Borough Council is investing £7.1m to undertake significant modernisation programmes to homes in Staveley as part of its continued commitment to deliver excellent quality homes that meet the needs of the local people.

As part of the modernisation programmes, homes at Pullman Close, Mallard Court, Leander Court and Aston Court in Staveley will benefit from extensive internal and external improvements.

Homes at Pullman Close will benefit from having new doors and windows installed that will help create a fresh and modernised look, as well as providing tenants with more secure homes and additional environmental benefits.

The refurbishment plans for Mallard Court and Leander Court will allow the council to provide affordable, modern and attractive housing for older people in Staveley. Each home will benefit from a newly renovated kitchen and lounge area. Each bathroom will be converted into a wet room with a level access shower. The communal areas and outdoor spaces will also be restored, creating brighter open spaces for residents to get together, socialise and combat loneliness.

Proposed refurbishment at Aston Court will see high quality homes delivered for people in the areas and also includes plans to build an additional four new town houses, increasing the supply of council homes in Staveley.

The council’s main contractor, Fortem Solutions Ltd. started on site at Pullman Close in mid-June 2020 and are making good progress.

The designs for Mallard Court and Leander Court are almost complete and Fortem Solutions Ltd. are expected to start the modernisation programme in early Autumn 2020. The council is also currently in consultation with residents to ensure the individual needs of each resident can be met and permanent or temporary moves can be provided while the works are completed.

Councillor Chris Ludlow, cabinet member for housing, said: “The council is committed to improving the quality of life for local people and we can help achieve this by investing in our housing stock to ensure that we maintain a supply of affordable, modern and attractive homes for every stage of life.

“A key part of our housing strategy is to make sure that our homes are of excellent quality and create a modern and desirable environment. This project will help us ensure that homes in Staveley meet the expectations of our residents with regard to accessibility, affordable warmth and security.

“We are really looking forward to seeing the modernisation works progress at Staveley as we aim to improve the local housing offer in the area and create an attractive place for people to choose to live, regardless of their age or housing needs.”

A project to create nine new private bedrooms at Ashgate Hospicecare has been shortlisted as a finalist for two awards at the East Midlands LABC Building Excellence Awards.

The £1 million project to transform bed bays into private rooms, has been shortlisted in two categories – Best Change of Use of an Existing Building and Best Small Commercial Project – in the awards.

Derbyshire Building Control Partnership (DBCP) nominated Ashgate Hospicecare for both awards following its work with a number of other local businesses and suppliers to deliver the project.

Completed last year, the £1 million project was made possible and affordable for Ashgate Hospicecare by a number of suppliers, like DBCP, giving their services and materials either free of charge or choosing to forgo any profits.

Thrilled to be shortlisted Alison Ward-Foster, Partnerships Manager at Ashgate Hospicecare, said: “The new bedrooms have made a significant impact on patients and how they spend precious time with those they love and also how many patients we have been able to care for during the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only did the bays that we had before the new bedrooms provide our patients with no privacy, they also made infection control practises incredibly difficult.”

Redeveloping three, three-bedded bays, which were built when the hospice first opened 30 years ago, into nine individual, beautiful, modern and private bedrooms, means that Ashgate Hospicecare can now care for more people, cut waiting lists and allow patients and families much-needed privacy.

David Pratt, DBCP Building Control Manager, said: “The creation of the private rooms at Ashgate Hospicecare was a real team effort and exemplified collaborative working across all professions involved – from building control and architects to engineering and construction.

“Like everyone, we were absolutely delighted to be involved in a project that has already made a difference in the lives of many patients and families. I had no hesitation in putting forward Ashgate Hospicecare for the awards.”

Due to Covid-19 restrictions the winners will be announced at a special virtual ceremony on Thursday 27 August.

“The virtual event will be a wonderful way to celebrate what we have achieved for our patients and the people of North Derbyshire,” added Alison.

The LABC Regional Building Excellence Awards are the largest business to business awards in the UK. The annual awards celebrate building control surveyors, builders, architects, designers and anyone else involved in a construction project where building control has been provided by a local authority team.

The East Midlands regions covers construction projects across Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Leicestershire.  All entries are reviewed and shortlisted by a panel of judges with the winners of the regional awards progressing to the national final.
To find out more about the Ashgate Hospicecare project and how DBCP contributed, please visit www.dbcp.co.uk/news. Or, or if you are concerned with any aspect of building control, please contact DBCP’s friendly team of experts for free advice on 0333 880 2000.

As the local economy of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire looks to recover from the Coronavirus pandemic, D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and the D2N2 Growth Hub are continuing to ask local businesses for their insight by completing the D2N2 Covid-19 Business Survey.

Over 700 businesses have so far contributed, giving their perspectives on the effects of the pandemic on their businesses and the support they need during recovery.

The data gathered by the D2N2 Covid-19 Business Survey feeds directly into the recovery activities of university economists and Local Authorities, as well as D2N2 LEP and the D2N2 Growth Hub.

D2N2 LEP is the Local Enterprise Partnership for Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham, and Nottinghamshire and is tasked with encouraging economic growth in the region.

Frank Horsley, Head of Business and Innovation for D2N2 LEP said: “Our D2N2 Growth Hub has been central in helping businesses across the area respond to the challenge of Covid-19. They’ve worked tirelessly with other organisations and sectors in ensuring SMEs can access the support needed to prepare for recovery and growth.”

“Ensuring our services are tailored to what our customers need is fundamental to the Growth Hub, the survey allows us to listen to businesses first hand and respond in a pro-active manner with the support required.”

“I would urge all businesses to spend a few minutes telling us their story and the issues that they face.”

D2N2 Growth Hub Manager Chris Pook said: “It is vitally important that businesses continue to tell us how they are being impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic so that we can tailor local business support for the recovery phase.”

“Over 700 D2N2 businesses have completed the survey since April, providing valuable insight to policy makers. We now have a refreshed version of the survey which will help to maintain a clear picture of the ongoing impacts on SMEs as lockdown measures are eased.”

Funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) via D2N2 LEP in order to boost competitiveness amongst SMEs in the region, the D2N2 Growth Hub offers support to start-ups, growing businesses, and companies who are ready to scale up their operations.

During the pandemic the Growth Hub’s business adviser team have been on hand to provide advice to thousands of local businesses on financial support as well as adjusting their business practice to social distancing.

Businesses can complete the survey by going to d2n2lep.org/covid-19-business-survey

An additional 574,000 sq ft of warehouse and logistics space at a high profile new development in north Derbyshire has been given the go-ahead.

Joint venture partners St Francis Group and iSec have secured planning consent for a second phase at Horizon29, just off junction 29a of the M1 between Sheffield and Nottingham, for three more industrial units ranging in size from 113,000 sq ft to 250,000 sq ft.

The additional planning consent will bring the total space at the landmark scheme to an impressive 1.4m sq ft, with the potential to create more than 2,000 jobs for the region.

Work at Horizon29 is already underway with extensive ground works completed and infrastructure changes and highways and service upgrades about to commence.

The first phase of the development, for 824,000 sq ft across five units, ranging from 73,000 sq. ft to 310,000 sq. ft, was granted planning consent earlier in the year and plots are now available for development.

Gareth Williams, Development Director of St Francis Group, an expert in brownfield development and regeneration, said: “We and our partners, iSec, are delighted to have worked closely with the local planning authority in order to deliver this major consent for the second phase of our strategic logistics project, Horizon29 at Markham Vale.

“The East Midlands has seen a good take up of large, bespoke industrial premises over the last 12 months.  We expect keen interest from a range of occupiers wanting first class accommodation, prime location and labour supply.”

Last week it was announced that the South Yorkshire Pension Fund and the SCR Jessica Fund have provided a £15.25 million senior and mezzanine debt facility to support the development of vital infrastructure which will be the catalyst for the delivery of this regionally strategic logistics and manufacturing site. This is the first joint loan provided by the Funds.

Nigel Lax, Development Director of iSec said: “This scheme is one of the most prestigious industrial developments in the East Midlands and will not only deliver much needed, state-of-the-art space, set within highly landscaped grounds, but thousands of jobs for the region.

“Securing phase two planning at Horizon29 means that the project can be pushed forward at pace to deliver this landmark scheme.”

Rebecca Schofield of joint letting agents, Knight Frank, added: “The site offers the opportunity for bespoke or build to specification accommodation for occupiers with leasehold and freehold requirements for the eight premium industrial/warehouse units.

“We welcome the opportunity to discuss and understand occupiers specific requirements so that detailed proposals can be tabled.”

St Francis Group and iSec is working closely with North East Derbyshire District Council, Bolsover District Council, Derbyshire County Council and the D2N2 LEP that has provided grant assistance to the project.

Sajeeda Rose, chief executive at D2N2, which invested £5.79m into the project via the Local Growth Fund, added: “As we look towards the economic recovery from Coronavirus, we at D2N2 are delighted to see the Horizon29 site continue to expand into a scheme ready to deliver new jobs to the North-Derbyshire and wider economy.”

Find out more about investing in Chesterfield