Belper North Mill Trust Future Strategy
Click here for the 2024-2027 strategy document and action plan.
The Belper Mills site
The Strutt mills, once the heart of the cotton spinning town of Belper, are a key part of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site but many of its Listed Buildings have been identified by Historic England as ‘At Risk’ due to a lack of maintenance and proper repair. The Belper North Mill Trust is a tenant in the North Mill and has been concerned for many years about the condition of these important buildings.
In 2017, with the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Trust produced ‘An Outline Masterplan for the future of the whole of the Belper Mills site’ authored by DCA Consultants and Purcell. This looked at how the site could be brought back into viable use.
The Outline Masterplan can be downloaded here.
In May 2016 as our study was in progress Courtaulds’ two operations in Belper went into administration, leaving their site vacant. These two sites, on either side of Bridge Foot, together made up the Strutt mills – representing working life in Belper over three centuries and have the potential to add new information to the interpretation and history of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.
The Trust believes that, in order to provide the very best opportunity for a sustainable business plan for the regeneration of this part of the town, a development plan should be developed covering both sites to ensure sensitive, long term, sustainable conservation and regeneration, to benefit tourism and the economic future of Belper and the wider area.
The current Planning Application and recent developments
A Planning Application for the redevelopment of the Belper Mills complex was submitted to Amber Valley Borough Council by FI Real Estate Management Ltd (FIREM Ltd) in 2018 and is yet to be determined.
A link to an overview of the FIREM plan is provided here.
A very good summary of the planning situation is provided on the Our Belper Mills website with further links to the detailed current FIREM planning applications on the AVBC website.
The Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site Partnership (DVMWHS) believes there will be serious challenges in delivering the scheme which is currently being considered by Amber Valley Borough Council as the local planning authority. The Partnership believes alternative options should be explored to repair and reuse the buildings in ways that allow for additional funders and partners to support a scheme that can be delivered.
A link to the DVMWHS plans and public consultancy documentation is provided here.
The Trust welcomes the prospect of the redevelopment of the Belper Mills Complex in a way that provides a sustainable future for the whole site, while respecting and interpreting its history and heritage.
A response from the Trust to the recent proposals can be viewed below.