Regional daily fights to stop £60m 'madness'
Petition launched calling for rethink on council development
A regional daily has launched a campaign to "save £60m of taxpayer cash" after branding a proposed development "madness".
The Derby Telegraph has started a petition calling for Derby City Council to "go back to the drawing board" with its plans for the city's Assembly Rooms and Market Place.
This month, the council will be seeking outline planning permission for a replacement building for the fire-damaged Assembly Rooms - once the building is demolished - called Derby MADE.
It will contain a hotel and an office block, paid for by £60m of public money and £40m in private finance.
But, with existing amenities of a similar nature nearby, the Telegraph has questioned whether such a development is "really needed".
So far, more than 900 people have signed the petition since it was launched last month.
Launching the campaign, the Telegraph said: "We are joining calls from all sectors of the Derby community to demand that the city council goes back to the drawing board with its plans to regenerate the Market Place.
While no one is arguing with the idea that the area needs rejuvenating and the historic Market Place needs once again to be the life, heart and soul of the city, are the council's plans going to achieve that?
"Is it what you want to see in our city centre?
"The plans are not what people want and they do not represent value for money, with a grave danger that they will turn out to be more expensive than currently estimated and, if completed, could be many years from fruition."
