Planning & Design’s Heritage Consultant Ruth Gray details the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage site and explains how it is rich in development opportunities, because of, not in spite of it’s unique historical status.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site (DVMWHS) in 2001 it runs from Matlock Bath in the North to the former Silk Mill, in Derby. The World Heritage Site (WHS) hugs the River Derwent that powered it’s mills in the late 18th and early 19th century. WHS status is the highest international heritage designation that can be bestowed, examples of other sites of such importance are The Pyramids and the Taj Mahal. Each WHS has to have a management plan that has to be adhered to in order to ensure the WHS does not become at risk, examples of risk could be over development or environmental factors.
The DVMWHS is a living and working community of small villages, towns and the city of Derby. For the DVMWHS to prosper, it needs to be recognised as a great place for business and tourism, as well as recognised for the significance of it’s industrial, cultural and unique natural landscape heritage. A sustainable approach to development in the DVMWHS is possible to achieve through the careful development of sites along its route.
Redevelopment at the Grade I Cromford Mills in particular Building 17 has shown that sites that are sensitive can be used as business hubs and since Cromford Creative opened there it has achieved full occupancy; at Darley Abbey Mills, the site is a buzz of creative businesses and restaurants; and the Derby Silk Mill, is now an award winning museum, the Museum of Making.
Planning & Design Practice Director Jon Millhouse delivered a speech on regeneration within DVMWHS, to Marketing Derby Bondholders at Cromford Mills in July, outlining some of the many projects that PDP have been able to assist with along the length of the DVMWHS.
These included St Matthews House a Grade II* former school built by the Evans family for the mill workers children in Darley Abbey. PDP achieved planning permission to convert it into a mix of commercial and residential. At John Smedley’s Factory Planning & Design Practice was able to assist with planning permission for the regeneration of derelict cottages within site. The former Ambergate Social Club was repurposed to become an award winning residential development. Jon also discussed a new project Carrwood Mill for our client Peak UK Kayaking Co Ltd which will bring textile production back into the DVMWHS on the derelict former Cromford Garden Centre.
This all shows that there is scope to repurpose historic buildings and brownfield sites in the DVMWHS and to provide space for business opportunities for individuals and companies to relocate to the Derwent Valley and to enrich the World Heritage Site’s (WHS) diverse offer. However, as WHS’s are the most important international designated heritage assets there is a higher scrutiny. Therefore complex reports are needed to be commissioned to assess heritage impact of a proposed development.
‘UNESCO and the Advisory Bodies to the World Heritage Committee have issued new guidance for assessing impacts from projects that could potentially affect the planet’s most precious heritage places. Designed specifically for heritage management institutions, governments and project developers, it aims to help find the best possible solutions to meet both conservation priorities and development needs.’
At Planning & Design Practice we have skilled heritage specialists who are familiar with the latest International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) guidelines and use them to formulate Heritage Impact Assessments for projects within the DVMWHS. Each project is unique and impacts the WHS in different ways following the guidelines allow developers to work with local stakeholders and local authorities on their proposals and ensure that the WHS is not put at risk by creating improved projects that yield more benefits in the long term, satisfying both conservation and development needs.
Ruth Gray, Heritage Consultant, Planning & Design Practice
