Chesterfield and District Civic Society

Registered Charity number 507458

Author: Philip Cousins

  • Tapton House update

    In this post we give an update on Tapton House as the Civic Society sees it. The Borough Council’s selling agents, Knight Frank, have been actively marketing Tapton House for several months and have reported some interest and viewings. The firm has now written to everyone who has expressed interest inviting a definite statement of…

  • Burlington House: scheme for flats gets go-ahead

    We take a look the latest and successful planning application for flats at Burlington House on Burlington Street, Chesterfield, in this post. After the rejection of earlier schemes, mainly because the floor area of many of the proposed flats was below the statutory minimum, the Borough Council earlier this month approved new plans for the…

  • Start needed on Brampton Manor plans to reduce arson risk

    We are obviously concerned about security and vandalism issues at the now empty Brampton Manor. Parts of the premises are a Scheduled Ancient Monument and Grade II* listed. They are therefore of regional and indeed national importance. You can read about a recent arson attack in this Derbyshire Times report.  Fortunately the latest vandalism attack…

  • Heritage Open Days – local list now available

    We’ve updated our Heritage Open Days website page with a list of properties in the Chesterfield area currently taking part in the September event. There are links to more detailed descriptions of the various site activities, dates, etc. and whether you’ll need to book. In addition to those already taking part, we understand that Chesterfield…

  • Crow Lane closure and Chatsworth Road cycle track: local residents’ last chance to object

    Derbyshire County Council have (on 30 June) announced a consultation exercise on three aspects of their proposed east–west cycle route across Chesterfield, all of which require authorisation under secondary legislation. This is probably the last chance that local residents who disagree with these proposals will have to object. The three aspects are: (a) the closure…

  • Hurst House – eight years and still waiting

    It is eight years Hurst House closed as a community education centre and five years since the Civic Society first complained to the Charity Commission about the negligent misconduct of Derbyshire County Council as sole trustee of the charity which owns the property. We’ve previously highlighted what we believe is a scandal (this post is…

  • Tapton House: progress at last

    Whilst our views will not be favoured by some members of the local community  the Civic Society committee has welcomed the news that the Borough Council is to offer Tapton House and its immediate grounds (but not the park or golf course) for sale on a 999-year lease. This is after two years of trying…

  • Time for a town centre rethink?

    The future of Chesterfield town centre is a topic on many people’s minds. But what can be done? Our recent member newsletter looked at the issues at stake and proposed a perhaps radical rethink on its future. We thought we might share our ideas with you in this post. Bad news – 1 There have…

  • Newsletters on-line

    We try to keep our members up-to-date with regular newsletters. We’ve now made available our most recent editions, plus a selection of older ones, on-line. To download these visit our ‘historic newsletters’ page. You’ll find the newsletters have an interesting mix of planning news, building histories and society news. We only publish newsletters on-line around…

  • Heritage Open Days progress

    We are making steady progress in our efforts to make more of Heritage Week in September. We have a more or less final list of buildings we would like to see opened to the public, and will now write to their owners in the hope that they will able to cooperate. The first to respond…