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Search forMarket may be slack but work starts on key development
Wednesday, July 02, 2008, 07:30
The scheme will give Derby its new bus station, two hotels, a casino, bars and restaurants.
Since an official sod-cutting ceremony was held on the site, opposite the Cockpit island, on April 28, ceremony, there have been few signs of progress.
But contractors have now started working on the land and scheme bosses say they are still on target to meet completion deadlines.
Machines are now preparing the ground for major construction.
The company behind the scheme, Derby Riverlights Limited, said the bus station was still on course to be completed by the end of September next year.
David Osborne, director of Derby Riverlights Ltd, said: “We have said that this work would be happening and it is.
“The construction company have been placing orders they needed and getting things ready for the start of this work.
“The major signs of activity will appear in a few weeks, when rigging goes up, which will be an exciting phase in the start of the construction.”
Last month, it was revealed that other phases of the plans had been put on ice indefinitely.
Apartments and offices were due make up the final phase of the complex but they have been put on hold because of the credit crunch and the slow-down in the housing market.
Mr Osborne said that slow-down had not affected the current work schedule.
He said the bus station would still be completed by the end of September next year and the casino, hotels and restaurants all completed in around 26 months' time – September 2010.
He said: “We are on course for the work to be completed in the time scales we have set out before.
“I think we can say that, with the recent market difficulties, it is a credit to everyone involved that this is still going ahead.”
And the start of work on the empty site has been welcomed by urban regeneration company Derby Cityscape.
John Cadwallader, chief executive of Derby Cityscape, said: “This is great news for Derby, which continues to see an exciting programme of development despite the doom and gloom in the property development industry elsewhere in the country.
“Work on the first phase of development, focusing on the bus station and leisure aspects of the scheme, was promised back in April, so I am obviously delighted that this is coming to fruition.
“Riverlights is a keynote development for the city centre and this sends a clear message both to local people and to potential investors that the regeneration of the city is alive and kicking.”
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