Leading regional developer, Cedar House Investments has secured £1.5 million of investment into Ashbourne in the last few months after agreeing sales with Selecta Tyre and Elim Church at its multi-million pound regeneration scheme on the site of the former Nestlé factory.

The company already agreed a sale with Selecta Tyre and has now agreed the further sale of a new 5,000 sq ft facility for Elim Church Ashbourne within its Waterside Park scheme on Clifton Road. 

The church is currently based on South Street in Ashbourne, but has limited public access. It now has plans to open a new community facility at Waterside Park, which will serve the Clifton Road Estate.

The multi-functional centre will include a church, community centre and conferencing facilities, which will be available for hire.

Work on the new facility has already started, with completion expected later this Spring.

The 36 acre Waterside Park scheme comprises residential, roadside, business and retail uses, including a mix of 60 private and affordable homes, 50,000 sq ft of commercial space and 60,000 sq ft of retail warehousing.

The scheme has created a sustainable and balanced solution, which is key to the town's growth and has created much needed job opportunities for the local work force following the closure of the Nestlé factory.

The retail park element of the scheme is occupied by a number of quality tenants, including a 20,000 sq ft flagship Homebase store with an 8,000 sq ft garden centre, a 5,400 sq ft Halfords outlet, an M&S Simply Food store extending to 11,000 ft² and the recently occupied 4,000 sq ft Majestic Wines.

A 53 bed Travelodge Hotel on the four acre roadside area adjacent to the retail park opened in December 2008 and Marstons opened the 'Stepping Stones' pub/restaurant last year.

Chris Oakden, commercial director of Cedar House Investments, said: 

"We are delighted to have brought £1.5 million worth of investment into the town within the current climate and look forward to welcoming Elim Church to the scheme next year.

"It is great news for Ashbourne and it demonstrates that the town is bucking current market trends."

Ben Brown, pastor at Elim Church Ashbounre, added:

"We suffer from bad access to the church and wanted to move to a new location that we felt needed us. At present, there is no community facility in that area, so we were positive that Waterside Park was the right location for us."

With a portfolio totalling more than £75 million, Cedar House Investments is one of the Midlands' most progressive developers, with a series of high profile schemes across the East and West Midlands.