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Sixty-room hotel 'boost for Matlock'



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Published Date:
13 March 2008
A multi-million pound, 60-bedroom hotel complex being planned for Matlock is set to give a 'much-needed boost to the economy'.
Plans have been submitted to transform the former Old English on Dale Road from its present 14-bedrooms to an international standard hotel.

And Matlock's mayor says it would be just what Matlock needs.

The scheme would also see at least three retail units and underground car parking.

A proposal to convert the building into flats was refused last year because it was felt to be damaging to the conservation area.

However Bruce Gee, operations director for Heart Hotels which own the building, said the design had been altered and would be a sympathetic addition to the existing hotel.

He added: "It will suit Matlock very well and bring in a lot more people as currently there are no mid-range priced hotels which we definitely need for this area.

"We have been working closely with the council to provide something that sits sympathetically in the conservation area. We hope it will be a great shop front and a great unit."

A spokesman for Heart Hotels, said an international chain of hoteliers had agreed to work with them on the development.

He added the proposal was an example of the economic faith the company had in Matlock town as a Derbyshire destination.

Matlock mayor, David Barker, said he hoped the development would resolve problems outlined in the council's action report of 2004, which acknowledged a lack of accommodation, particularly mid-range hotels, in the town.

He added: ""If they can extend the building and make it a bigger hotel it would all be to the good of the town as we do need more accommodation.

"I think it is a very good idea and what Matlock needs."

Derbyshire Dales District Council planning services manager, Paul Wilson, said the council had an input into the design of the building in an attempt to address the concerns in the original application.

The application will be available to view later this week.

To see more images of the hotel proposals click here

The full article contains 358 words and appears in Matlock Mercury newspaper.
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  • Last Updated: 13 March 2008 11:56 AM
  • Source: Matlock Mercury
  • Location: Matlock
 
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incognito,

Matlock 13/03/2008 10:10:43
Fantastic news, lets hope the plans get approval.
2

Lone Starr,

Matlock Bath 13/03/2008 21:12:59
Definitely good news for the town. I hope that the District Council see that this needs to be approved, for a chance to save the town from certain doom.
3

anony mouse,

Derbyshire 15/03/2008 11:19:44
Great news. I hope the retail units will be big enough to house some national chain stores that way it will inject some interest down dale road; and hopefully encourage some interest in the smaller independent stores down there. I also believe that it would encourage niche retailers into the smaller empty premises down there with the increased passing trade.
4

Bruce Gee,

Matlock 17/03/2008 10:23:18
I am so glad to see people reacting positively to the plans for The Old English Hotel, and yes we have been talking to some fantastic national brands for retail if all comes together we should see dale road come to life at last, fingers crossed.
I will try to answer as many questions as possible through the mercury's site here.
Kindest Regards
Bruce
5

anony mouse,

19/03/2008 17:24:04
Mr Gee, is the main retail store considerably smaller than the last application? if so would it be able to house a national brand store?
6

Bruce Gee,

Matlock 21/03/2008 10:37:50
Dear Anony mouse
The retail unit is slightly smaller than before mainly because we have shaved off the back end for hotel rooms as they make a better feature facingthe park than the back end of a store.
We are in talks with national brands so the answer is yes it could and probally will house a national brand.
Kindest Regards
Bruce
7

Bruce Gee,

Matlock 21/03/2008 10:46:30
As you will probally know the application is now registered at the council's planning dept, so all plans are availble at their offices to veiw.
I do hope everyone stays upbeat about this development, the window of oppertunity is relitively small for us so we need to pull together to get this in place and get these companies into Matlock for the good of the whole town not only commercialy but all the jobs this will create as well and in doing so bring some life back to Dale Road.
kindest Regards
Bruce Gee
8

Mikey,

Matlock 21/03/2008 13:03:40
In my opinion this proposed development is far too large for Dale Road, and a large part of it is completely out of character and context.

How will the huge number of extra cars be accomodated here? Don't we have enough terrible parking problems in Matlock.
I am also not convinced that this development will add much trade to other businesses on Dale Road. These type of large hotels tend to make sure all the money is spent within their confines. Additionally their customers tend to be very much the dormitory business types, who arrive late and leave early. They don't venture out much either.

Whilst I would fully support the possibility of a new hotel within the current premises I feel that this proposal is quite plainly overkill on a grand scale. Furthermore I think it looks like a former East German military barracks from the side and rear views.

One further point, I am very concerned by this talk of National brand companies that might be interested in taking up retail premises here. This could well end up with certain very large and poweful companies wiping out other smaller nearby businesses, not increasing their trade as has been claimed.
The whole thing could easily end up being a further blow to Dale Road in my opinion.

Because of all this, I feel that at this stage it needs extremely close scrutinising and monitoring by all concerned.
9

squash,

21/03/2008 15:53:35
Hardly....

The reason why people do not shop in matlock and why i don't shop in matlock is because of the lack of national brands. Tell me, where is there a decent clothes shop in Matlock?

Buxton is far more superior to Matlock for shopping, it has Marks and Spencer, Next, Burtons etc and it's town centre is flourishing, with numerous lively small retailers. What has Matlock got? Charity shops, opticians, betting shops, estate agents and the odd old fasioned clothes shop that caters for the odd pensioner. To be honest I don't really think there is anything to wipe out. The town centre is dead and it was long dead before Sainsbury's arrived.

If you look at the retail capacity study on the Matlock Masterplan you will see that the majority of people stated that they did not shop in Matlock due to the lack of choice and national brands.

To add further, if you remember many years ago when Peacocks and Boots used to be located on Dale Road, the road was flourishing with many small indepenent retailers whih were also flourishing. Dale Road was literally packed with shoppers. However when these retailers left the road died and hence there was nothing to attract people over the bridge anymore.

Im affraid Matlock will have to move with the times like our neighbouring towns have if it is to survive any longer.
10

squash,

21/03/2008 16:12:48
Oh and by the way my family did have a business on Dale Road and it was when Boots relocated that the business suffered a grave decline.
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