The East Midlands Development Agency has said it will help fund the Chesterfield Waterside urban village development through its Waterways Regeneration Fund.
It has provided two grants totalling £860,000 to help create a new canal basin which forms the centrepiece and first phase of the £300m Chesterfield Waterside project which received planning approval in August 2008.
Some of the funding will also be used to support the enabling infrastructure works.
The 40 acre scheme is being developed by the Chesterfield Waterside Partnership, a joint venture between Chesterfield Borough Council and regeneration developer Urbo Regeneration – a joint venture between Bolsterstone and Arnold Laver Group.
It will be located alongside the River Rother corridor and the A61 and includes around 1300 homes together with a retail and business quarter, hotels, a public square, eco-park and public open spaces.
It is scheduled for an outline planning application in late 2008.
Anthony Payne, land & development director at the East Midlands Development Agency, said: ‘We are supporting this project because waterways present a unique opportunity to improve the environment and regenerate run down areas – transforming them into successful, flourishing places which attract our communities and unlock the value of the sites.’
Peter Swallow, chairman of the Chesterfield Waterside Partnership, said: ‘We expect work on the canal basin and sewer diversion infrastructure to be completed in April 2009, having recently commenced on site. We are aiming to submit outline plans for the scheme as a whole later this year.’
