Derbyshire leisure complex gathers pace

A new leisure complex proposed by Derbyshire Dales district council has gathered pace with a funding boost and the appointment of a project manager and design team.

Sport England has made a £500,000 grant to the scheme, to be built at a brownfield site between Matlock and Darley Dale, Property Mall reports, while Drivers Jonas Sport (DJ Sport) has been chosen to lead the project and design.

The £12 million scheme will cover an area the size of ten international football pitches and is expected to attract around 400,000 people a year.

Dave Brooks, Derbyshire Dales' director of planning and development services, told the publication: "Drivers Jonas has an excellent reputation in the leisure industry and we very much look forward to working with them.

"Also, as a company they have achieved carbon neutral status. This is important as addressing climate change is a major design consideration."

Previous leisure projects by the DJ Sport team include the Xcel leisure centre in Coventry, Sunderland Football Club's training academy and the athletics centre in London, which will be used as a training camp for the 2012 Olympics.

Drivers Jonas LLP was established in 1725 and now has more than 750 partners and staff across offices throughout the UK as well as in Paris, Frankfurt and Madrid.

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