It’s great to see that Spring has finally sprung and while the daffodils, tulips and crocuses are in full bloom across Derby it’s wonderful to see the green shoots of a new regenerated city starting to appear.
Of course, we have the brilliant news that Derby is to the home o the Great British Railways – putting the city of trains, planes and automobiles truly on the map again. But, actually, this is just one of a number of developments which are helping to create a brighter future for our city.
And despite the enormous challenges that the Covid pandemic created, there is so much to be proud of in Derby. There’s the creation of a new 3,000-seater performance venue in Becketwell which is expected to bring thousands of visitors to the city and add more than £10m to the local economy.
Our Grade II listed Market Hall is being turned into an exciting new ‘make and trade’ space for hospitality and entertainment businesses thanks to an investment of £25m.
The world’s very first SmartParc is being created on the former Celanese site in Spondon, with an investment of £17.5m. A new food manufacturing and distribution hub, this will bring £300m of private sector investment and 5,000 new jobs.
Thousands of new houses and apartments are being built on brownfield land in the city centre, while the UK’s largest urban rewilding project is underway in Allestree Park.
The University of Derby’s new Business School will open its doors to 6,000 new students in September while a new Nuclear Skills Academy at iHub, has just welcomed the first 200 apprentices of an expected 2,000 to be trained in the nuclear industry over the next decade.
The Eastern Gateway is one of Derby city centre’s biggest regeneration projects in the pipeline. The project, to be delivered between Derbion and the city council, and part-funded by the Government’s Future High Streets Fund, will add extra shops and leisure outlets and create a new public boulevard to transform the area opposite the bus station and the eastern entrance to Derbion.
Our city has three world leading manufacturing organisations in Rolls-Royce, Alstom and Toyota and Derby has the highest percentage of people employed in advanced manufacturing in the country. This makes Derby unique and provides a brilliant foundation for the brand new, regenerated city which we can all be proud of.
Sports and leisure are also on the up: this summer the city will international road cycling events while £20m of Levelling Up Funding will help to build a new ‘Learning Theatre’ in partnership with the University of Derby and Derby Theatre, to be located on the old Assembly Rooms site.
So, next time anyone criticises Derby for being a city where nothing happens, remember all these green shoots. For this is a city that is really starting to blossom.
