Derwent Valley Mills

• Development proposals in the wider setting, buffer zone, and within the property
• Poor state of conservation of the large Belper Mills complex
• Fragmented management system

N/A

Following the recommendation of the Committee (Decision 45 COM 7B.61), a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS/ICCROM Advisory mission was invited to visit the property from 31 January to 2 February 2024 (mission report available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1030/documents/). Subsequently, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report on 5 February 2024, available at the same link, in which it presents conservation issues raised by the Committee at its previous session as follows:

• The ‘Landmark’ project in Derby was approved by the Derby City Council in August 2020 and the development has commenced;
• Historic England formally requested that the Secretary of State determine the ‘Bradshaw Way’ and ‘Eagle Quarter’ developments. Decisions on these applications are pending;
• Following expert advice from Historic England, proposals in Belper for 114 homes (‘Derwent Street (North)’) and 16 apartments in a derelict Grade II-listed warehouse (‘Fuchs’) were brought to a positive final scheme and their construction is nearing completion;
• Alternative options for the adaptive reuse of Belper Mills have been commissioned by the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage site (DVMWHS) Partnership and negotiations with the site owner are ongoing;
• The Belper 2021 Neighbourhood Plan identifies three sites for redevelopment within the property, one of which has been completed and another approved;
• Updated information is awaited on the ‘Amber Rock Resort’ proposal at Crich Quarry;
• Two further development proposals in Belper were dismissed by the Planning Inspectorate in part due to their impact on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property.

In relation to the protection and management of the property, the report notes that:

• Local Plans (Derbyshire County Council and Derby City Council Minerals and Waste Plans; Derby City Local Plan; Amber Valley Local Plan; Erewash Borough Council) and the Darley Abbey Mills policy (AC10), the general heritage policy and the Derby City Council Design Guide for development are newly developed or currently under review;
• The DVMWHS Partnership undertook a second round of training to local planning authorities across the property.

Other conservation issues reported include:

• Historic England raised concerns about the submission of an outline application for 60 new dwellings at ‘Land Off Derwent’ Street, due to the sensitive location within the property. Further details are currently awaited;
• Major conservation work is underway at Cromford Mills;
• The Museum of Making (Derby Silk Mill) reopened in January 2024, following severe flooding in 2023;
• The City of Derby’s Our City Our River flood alleviation project continues and the flood protection packages implemented to date are reported to be performing well. [A master plan is being developed][Implementation of the masterplan is underway];
• The Arkwright Society is delivering hydropower and water source heating schemes. The hydropower project at Cromford is in partnership with Derwent Hydro, who have also taken over and reopened the Grade II*-listed Masson Mills at Matlock Bath and the historic turbine at Belper Mills;
• The temporary structure at Darley Abbey Bridge is now in place and operational. The Derby City Council and Historic England are working on a permanent replacement.

The State Party submitted a Paragraph 172 notification with its report for a proposed development at ‘Full Street’, Derby, for a planned residential scheme of 186 apartments with commercial units as an extension to the Premier Inn.

Development pressure within the property, its buffer zone and wider setting remains a matter of great concern. In the context of the 2024 joint Advisory mission, the State Party informed the World Heritage Centre of the current status of a number of development proposals, including the approved ‘Landmark’, ‘Bradshaw Way’ and ‘Eagle Quarter’ high-rise developments in the buffer zone in Derby, and the now-completed or near-completed large housing developments ‘Belper Lane’ and ‘Derwent Steet’ within the property in Belper. The first four developments were assessed negatively by ICOMOS, while ‘Derwent Steet’ was not notified by the State Party to the World Heritage Centre prior to implementation. The mission visited the sites of several other proposed housing developments, including those identified in the Belper 2021 Neighbourhood Plan (new ‘Ada Belfield Centre and Library’, ‘Babington Hospital’, ‘Ada Belfield Home’, ‘Land Off Derwent Street’, and the former ‘Fuchs’ site), one of which has been completed and another approved. Historic England had assessed all positively with the exception of ‘Land Off Derwent’, for which it had raised concerns.

During the mission, the State Party provided information on the so-called ‘Full Street’ project, which proposes an extension to the 6-storey Premier Inn Derby City Centre (Cathedral Quarter) Hotel, including a 9-storey residential development of 186 apartments, within the property’s buffer zone. The Advisory mission confirmed Historic England’s advice that the scheme in its current form would have a serious adverse and irreversible impact on the property’s OUV, particularly on its integrity. The Committee may wish to request the State Party not to approve the current scheme and to submit any future revised scheme to the World Heritage Centre for review by ICOMOS, and that no irreversible decision be taken until the recommendations of the ICOMOS Technical Review have been shared with the State Party.

The mission was also made aware of the ‘Leonardo Hotel Derby – Former Jurys Inn, a 10 storey, 213-bedroom hotel built in 2009 in the buffer zone adjacent to the property’s boundary. Following the mission, the Centre also learnt of three further proposals in Derby, one of which has been completed and two of which have been approved (‘Cathedral Court 350’, ‘Derby Bio House’, ‘Beckettwell Apartments’). It is regrettable that the State Party did not notify the World Heritage Centre of these development according to the Committee’s invitation and Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines.

The Belper Mills, a key component of the property, continues to face conservation challenges, particularly the East and North Mills. Following objections from Historic England and a negative review by ICOMOS of an [inappropriate][live] reuse proposal [by the site owner], alternative options have been commissioned by the DVMWHS Partnership and have been subject to public consultation.

The commitment of a wide range of stakeholders involved in the DVMWHS Partnership to the conservation of the property is noted, especially through the positive examples of the Museum of Making, the re-use of Darley Abbey, the new Ada Belfield Centre and Library, and the mixed-use redevelopment of Cromford Mills, which support the sustainable development of the property, preserve its character and give the industrial heritage a function in the life of the community.

Despite these welcome efforts to find alternative and sustainable proposals, the development of inappropriate proposals and the approval of several development projects against the recommendations of the DVMWHS Partnership and Historic England and ICOMOS advice highlights the critical disconnect between the planning system and the protection of the OUV of the property. Considering the significant development that has taken place within the property and its buffer zone, the Advisory mission recommended that an assessment of the cumulative impact of all projects undertaken since the inscription of the property be undertaken to provide a baseline for any future individual impact assessments. In the case of projects currently under consideration and other potentially impactful future projects, thorough Heritage Impact Assessments (HIAs), based on the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context, should be systematically undertaken against the above baseline. All HIAs should include the option of not proceeding with a proposed action and a comparison with less impactful project alternatives.

The protection and management system remains highly fragmented and appears inadequate. The Committee’s previous requests regarding the legal jurisdiction and agency of the management authority, the legal status of the Management Plan and its legal mandate for the execution of HIAs remain relevant.

Most fundamentally, it is also necessary that the aims of the revised/updated Management Plan for DVMWHS are incorporated into the regulatory framework of planning instruments such as Local Plans and that management is coordinated across the property. As local authorities draft or review their Local Plans in 2024, the Committee may wish to reiterate its request that these draft plans and associated HIAs be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies prior to their adoption.

In relation to the 2020-2025 Management Plan review/update process, it would be appropriate to request the State Party to use this process to augment the attributes listed in the current Management Plan to more fully reflect how they both truthfully and credibly convey the OUV of the property, how the buffer zone and wider setting of the rural landscape support OUV, and to include a risk management and emergency preparedness plan for the property as a whole so that flood preparedness and prevention planning is in place, particularly for the most vulnerable areas of the property.

Based on the findings of the mission, it appears that the development pressure on the property, coupled with the inability of the management system to safeguard its OUV, has reached such a level that, if not urgently addressed, may confirm an ascertained or potential threat as defined in Paragraph 179 of the Operational Guidelines. The Committee may therefore urge the State Party to halt all new developments which may have a negative impact on the OUV of the property, including those that have already been approved, until the review of local plans by ICOMOS has been completed and its recommendations taken into account.