Riverside Car Park Closing

[GenBr]

Derbion announced they are closing the riverside car park permanently in April. Anyone know if they are going to replace it with anything or are we just going to be left with a crumbling ruin at one of the major entrances to the city?

Seems like it would have seen a lot of use on matchdays to me, but guess not

[Rev]

3 minutes ago, GenBr said:

Derbion announced they are closing the riverside car park permanently in April. Anyone know if they are going to replace it with anything or are we just going to be left with a crumbling ruin at one of the major entrances to the city?

Seems like it would have seen a lot of use on matchdays to me, but guess not

I believe they're converting it to house asylum seekers, from what I've heard.

[PistoldPete]

20 minutes ago, GenBr said:

Derbion announced they are closing the riverside car park permanently in April. Anyone know if they are going to replace it with anything or are we just going to be left with a crumbling ruin at one of the major entrances to the city?

Seems like it would have seen a lot of use on matchdays to me, but guess not

I have rarely seen any of the car parks looking particularly empty and sometimes they are completely full. So where are you expected to park? This seems a bit of a wind up surely? 

[GenBr]

19 minutes ago, PistoldPete said:

I have rarely seen any of the car parks looking particularly empty and sometimes they are completely full. So where are you expected to park? This seems a bit of a wind up surely? 

Yeh seems weird to me. Theyve been letting riverside get a bit rundown, but its never empty. Going to be a nightmare towards the end of the year when both riverside and the basement regularly get full to capacity 

[PistoldPete]

1 hour ago, GenBr said:

Yeh seems weird to me. Theyve been letting riverside get a bit rundown, but its never empty. Going to be a nightmare towards the end of the year when both riverside and the basement regularly get full to capacity 

I read  few months back that the Council were thinking of closing both Chapel street and Bold Street.. and the Assembly Rooms is on borrowed time as well.  There's also a number of off street car packs that have closed down too.   I mean where tf are people meant to park? 

[Archied]

2 minutes ago, PistoldPete said:

I read  few months back that the Council were thinking of closing both Chapel street and Bold Street.. and the Assembly Rooms is on borrowed time as well.  There's also a number of off street car packs that have closed down too.   I mean where tf are people meant to park? 

Your not , your meant to ride a bike , rewild your garden and eat your plant based sarnies 

[GenBr]

18 minutes ago, PistoldPete said:

I read  few months back that the Council were thinking of closing both Chapel street and Bold Street.. and the Assembly Rooms is on borrowed time as well.  There's also a number of off street car packs that have closed down too.   I mean where tf are people meant to park? 

Does the council still want to go ahead with the stupid monorail idea? Maybe theyre going to replace all the car parks with monorail stations

[Rev]

33 minutes ago, Archied said:

Your not , your meant to ride a bike , rewild your garden and eat your plant based sarnies 

I wouldn't mind the bike riders so much, but most of the buggers aren't even pedalling these days. 

Just sitting there, letting the motor take the strain while holding all other traffic up. 

 

[1of4]

Presumably if the carpark is no longer needed it will eventually be demolished. We will then have to endure looking at a waste site for a few years. Until something else is built on the site, NCP will probably end up renting it, before turning it into a potholed strewn carpark, similar to the one they have over the road.

[Gaspode]

Wonder if they're closing it to the public with the intention of using it for all the residents of the thousands of new flats they want to build?

[PistoldPete]

9 hours ago, 1of4 said:

Presumably if the carpark is no longer needed it will eventually be demolished. We will then have to endure looking at a waste site for a few years. Until something else is built on the site, NCP will probably end up renting it, before turning it into a potholed strewn carpark, similar to the one they have over the road.

The car park isn’t that old is it? 30 years or so? The other multi storey car parks apart from those built when Westfield took over are much older 50 years or more. 

[Stive Pesley]

I think that realistically the only way to have Derby survive as a functioning, vibrant city centre is to increase the city living quota

You visit any Western (and some Eastern) European or Scandinavian city and the difference that makes them feel alive is that they have people living in the city centre and functioning integrated transport systems

The 50s/60s/70s saw a mass exodus of people out of the city centres into the suburbs - mainly because of a) slum clearances b) poor air quality and c) the proliferation of cheap car ownership. Suburbs like Allestree and Mickleover are now starting to see their inhabitants die off at rate of knots but the houses they leave behind are far too expensive for most first time buyers, especially as they need to run cars too

Anyway - I'm rambling but my point is that rather than just treat this as one more thing to have a grumble about - maybe we should hope that it leads to positive change?

I wonder if @TomBustler1884 knows anything about the plans?

[FindernRam]

39 minutes ago, Stive Pesley said:

Anyway - I'm rambling but my point is that rather than just treat this as one more thing to have a grumble about - maybe we should hope that it leads to positive change?

Having lived here since 1967, NOTHNG has ever happened to make me feel positive about change in the City centre. Half baked ideas , usually years behind other places and poorly implemented.

Derby has a small town mentality and a small town income, destined to slowly fade away.

[Stive Pesley]

9 minutes ago, FindernRam said:

Derby has a small town mentality

Your post suggests that is a self-fulfilling prophecy

 

[TomBustler1884]

1 hour ago, Stive Pesley said:

I think that realistically the only way to have Derby survive as a functioning, vibrant city centre is to increase the city living quota

You visit any Western (and some Eastern) European or Scandinavian city and the difference that makes them feel alive is that they have people living in the city centre and functioning integrated transport systems

The 50s/60s/70s saw a mass exodus of people out of the city centres into the suburbs - mainly because of a) slum clearances b) poor air quality and c) the proliferation of cheap car ownership. Suburbs like Allestree and Mickleover are now starting to see their inhabitants die off at rate of knots but the houses they leave behind are far too expensive for most first time buyers, especially as they need to run cars too

Anyway - I'm rambling but my point is that rather than just treat this as one more thing to have a grumble about - maybe we should hope that it leads to positive change?

I wonder if @TomBustler1884 knows anything about the plans?

A few things.

1. This car park has been useless from the start - the design is dreadful, half of it is left unused most of the time and getting in/out is awful.

2. I was told a few years back that it has some significant structural issues - I don't think it was built very well.

3. Looking at what Cale Street (Derbion owners) have planned for the Eagle Market and Theatre, the designs all have the car park still being there.

4. What that tells me is that it's possible they have had engineers round who have found something that means they have to close it immediately. This would also explain why it seems to be closing so quickly.

5. It would make sense to demolish it and expand their masterplan to include the site. However, with the amount of brick, concrete and steel in it, I do wonder if it's something that could be repurposed?

I really like the look of what they are planning to do around there but their plans will face major criticism from those who want to block it and only ever build up to 4 storeys in Derby. Hopefully it gets through planning and they can secure funding and operators for their plans. There is a lot going on at the moment as plans start to become reality, hopefully this follows suit.

Ultimately, you're right, Derby won't improve without thousands more people living and working in the city centre so those things need to be built as quickly as possible.

[PistoldPete]

13 minutes ago, TomBustler1884 said:

A few things.

1. This car park has been useless from the start - the design is dreadful, half of it is left unused most of the time and getting in/out is awful.

2. I was told a few years back that it has some significant structural issues - I don't think it was built very well.

3. Looking at what Cale Street (Derbion owners) have planned for the Eagle Market and Theatre, the designs all have the car park still being there.

4. What that tells me is that it's possible they have had engineers round who have found something that means they have to close it immediately. This would also explain why it seems to be closing so quickly.

5. It would make sense to demolish it and expand their masterplan to include the site. However, with the amount of brick, concrete and steel in it, I do wonder if it's something that could be repurposed?

I really like the look of what they are planning to do around there but their plans will face major criticism from those who want to block it and only ever build up to 4 storeys in Derby. Hopefully it gets through planning and they can secure funding and operators for their plans. There is a lot going on at the moment as plans start to become reality, hopefully this follows suit.

Ultimately, you're right, Derby won't improve without thousands more people living and working in the city centre so those things need to be built as quickly as possible.

Lack of parking would be major issue though surely Tom. Like I’ve said assembly rooms, bold lane and chapel street all under threat too plus a few off street parking sites too. 
 

it’s not as if Derby has a functioning public transport system either, no regional rail network or trams. Omg I just agreed with Stive Presley!!!!

Edited March 16, 2023 by PistoldPete

[Skin em Ted]

If it is unsafe you'd hope they'd close it immediately. For a relatively new building it would be astonishing, considering all the modern H&S bureaucracy and millions of pounds spent accordingly on professional fees, if it was structurally unsound?

All for reducing traffic, but as pointed out, better public transport need to be in place before you knock down what I always see is a busy car park.

Are there any plans to replace the Playhouse or will we have to wait 20 years for an Architects impression of what we can't afford?

I know a few years back the emphasis was in trying to create multi-purpose spaces to save the city centre, a balanced mix of residential, offices and commercial (complete opposite of the empty assembly rooms) to create higher footfall throughout the day and all those aspects feeding off each other.

Covid has chucked a bit of a spanner in the works with increased online shopping and working from home spoiling that concept. At least the extra housing in theory will allow more people around to give the High street a fighting chance.

[B4ev6is]

The amount accidents take is quite bad and I have seen cars and  buses nearly crash or bus on bus when more than one at time trying get out of there and back on the road again.

Were teenagers tend run across it as they cant wait a few mins to walk around it.

[May Contain Nuts]

9 hours ago, Stive Pesley said:

I think that realistically the only way to have Derby survive as a functioning, vibrant city centre is to increase the city living quota

You visit any Western (and some Eastern) European or Scandinavian city and the difference that makes them feel alive is that they have people living in the city centre and functioning integrated transport systems

The 50s/60s/70s saw a mass exodus of people out of the city centres into the suburbs - mainly because of a) slum clearances b) poor air quality and c) the proliferation of cheap car ownership. Suburbs like Allestree and Mickleover are now starting to see their inhabitants die off at rate of knots but the houses they leave behind are far too expensive for most first time buyers, especially as they need to run cars too

Anyway - I'm rambling but my point is that rather than just treat this as one more thing to have a grumble about - maybe we should hope that it leads to positive change?

I wonder if @TomBustler1884 knows anything about the plans?

We can increase the living quota, but there still needs to be something to entice people to want to come and live in Derby City Centre in the first place.

Derby largely feels run down and dirty, uncared for. It can be a depressing place to look at and walk through. I guess that's the same for a lot of places in modern Britain though - Derby is far from the worst, even if it isn't in the best of shape.

I suppose it's a bit of a catch 22 situation, but it won't become a vibrant city centre simply by adding more people if there's nothing for those people to do. Whilst Derby does have some very good things going for it, you typically seem to get one or two examples of something that stand out from the crud around them, whereas in bigger cities the things we see as highlights would be just another decent option amongst the many for somewhere to go / something to visit.

Are there enough jobs (or rather enough well paid paid) jobs in the city that will attract successful individuals with disposable income to come and rent these new apartments? Is there enough here for them to do? How much scope realistically is there to increase the offering beyond what we have now? How much support is the council able or willing to give new, locally run businesses?

I go so far as to say that this constant drive for new apartments will actually come at a cost of there being a reason for people to live here; there's little to no imagination being used in deciding what to do with all the old buildings that become empty aside from... let's create some more flats, or turn it into an Aldi, oh wait, no, a Lidl! It'll all be bloody flats, Aldis & Lidls at this rate.

I don't think we can rely on our reputation as a drinking city either, as there's apparently a growing trend (not sure if real or just reported tbf) for young people these days to not really be interested in that culture.

I can just see a situation where nobody actually wants to move into all these shiny new apartments, so instead people get moved into them, but the people who aren't there by choice won't have the disposable income and it just makes the city centre busier, but not better.

So, what do we do? I'm f***** if I know.

9 hours ago, Stive Pesley said:

Your post suggests that is a self-fulfilling prophecy

Pretty much describes the way the city has been planned / managed over the past god knows how many years tbf

Edited March 16, 2023 by Kokosnuss

[therealhantsram]

On 15/03/2023 at 19:09, GenBr said:

Derbion announced they are closing the riverside car park permanently in April. Anyone know if they are going to replace it with anything or are we just going to be left with a crumbling ruin at one of the major entrances to the city?

Seems like it would have seen a lot of use on matchdays to me, but guess not

Well that's where I park on matchdays. ?

(And it's still the c*** Pit to me!)

Edited March 16, 2023 by therealhantsram