Pictured above: The Olde Englishe building (ahead on the
right)
A hotel and a village pub, both prominent buildings which have
been closed for 18 months or more, are set for new leases of life
under plans devised by a Derby firm.
Planning and Design Practice of Vernon Gate has dawn up schemes
designed to bring back into use the The Olde Englishe Hotel at
Matlock and the Cock Inn at Muggington.
The proposals are a sign of the times as pubs and other places
that were once fashionable become empty but are capable of being
brought back into good use.
The Olde Englishe Hotel and former nightclub on Dale Road was
built around 1880. It was part of an early phase of development of
Dale Road, which itself was part of a building boom in the spa town
between 1880-1900.
The baronial-style building, complete with turret, is considered
important to the appearance of the Matlock Bridge conservation
area.
The vacant building was last used as a 15-bedroom hotel with bar
and a basement nightclub, but has been closed for more than 18
months.
New owners, the Derbyshire-based Neville Wills Partnership, are
keen to invest a considerable amount to re-vamp and extend the
four-storey building, while seeking to preserve and enhance its
appearance and character.
They want to create a large restaurant, an apartment hotel with
six holiday flats for people on short breaks, and four apartments
to meet local housing needs
If the plans are approved by Derbyshire Dales District Council
the extension would be built using matching stone from the original
quarry.
The Cock Inn, a traditional village local at the junction of
Church Lane and Bullhurst Lane, where a pub has stood for 150
years, has been closed for more than two years.
Planning and Design Practice's scheme includes a single-storey
extension to replace a demolished extension and provide a new
kitchen and dining area.
There will also be a new block in the car park with eight
en-suite bed and breakfast rooms.
The scheme, approved by Amber Valley Borough Council, will be a
major investment by Milton-based pub chain Bespoke Inns that will
bring a long established rural business back into use, contributing
to the local economy.
The practice also has plans to convert a pub in a Derbyshire
Dales market town into five apartments, and another in Chesterfield
into three apartments.
It successfully applied to convert The Vaults, an empty pub in
Coldwell Street, Wirksworth, into two commercial units and five
apartments.
Planning consultant Andrew Gore said: "With changing social
trends there is a growing number of empty pubs coming on the
market.
"If they are the only pub in a community the local councils
usually try to keep them for a social hub. But if there are a
number of pubs in the area it is often appropriate to convert them,
giving a new lease and providing much needed homes.
"Having successfully done work in this area we are receiving a
growing number of inquiries."
For more information about The Planning and Design Practice,
please visit their website here: www.planningdesign.co.uk