Why we invested in Derby: Compendium Living

Urban regeneration specialist Compendium Living is now on the fourth phase of its flagship Castleward development, in partnership with Derby City Council and Homes England.

Here, in his own words, Bruce Lister, managing director of Compendium Living, explains how the scheme played a key role in kick-starting the regeneration of Derby city centre.

Castleward is a new, sustainable, mixed-use neighbourhood being created on formerly unattractive and underused brownfield land near the city centre.

To date this long-term regeneration scheme has delivered over 300 new homes, a new public square and boulevard, linking the train station to the city centre, and 12 new retail units.

The current phase (Phase 4) will add a further 112 new homes, with a fifth phase of approximately 150 more already being drawn up.

Castleward is exactly the type of large-scale, transformative project that Compendium Living was set up to do.

We have been involved with this project with Derby City Council and Homes England since 2011, so we’re definitely in it for the long haul!

We started on site in 2013, and at the time Castleward was the first of the major Derby city centre regeneration schemes to get off the ground.

Even then, it felt like potentially the start of something bigger.

This was one of the things that drew us to the project – the council seemed to have ambitions for the city, and it did not feel like this would be an isolated scheme.

The location of Castleward itself always had enormous potential for city centre living, with excellent access to the shops, restaurants and bars, as well as the cultural amenities of the city centre, much of it within walking distance.

Being a brownfield site of former commercial/light industrial units brought its own challenges, but there has been a genuine willingness from the council and Homes England, from the outset, to work collaboratively and flexibly with us.

This sort of approach is critical to the success of a challenging city centre regeneration scheme like this.

Crucially, they helped us to access additional funding such as D2N2 LEP funding and Housing Infrastructure Funding for different elements of the scheme.

They also commissioned and funded the building, by Morgan Sindall, of a new primary school right in the heart of Castleward.

This was essential for attracting families into the new community and ensuring its long-term sustainability.

The brownfield nature of the site brought opportunities too – Castleward in 2013 was a featureless urban landscape with no identity.

We are creating a community here, and already there is a vibrancy about the area.

One of the first things we did, as part of the first phase, was meet the city council’s aspiration to enhance the important pedestrian gateway into central Derby from the train station.

We have all been particularly pleased with the new Boulevard and public realm that has been provided here, and it is great to see it thriving now, busy every day with students, commuters and residents.

I like to think that Compendium Living and Castleward played a part in kickstarting the regeneration of Derby city centre.

As time has gone on, we have seen the ripple effect as other impressive regeneration schemes take shape in the city, and I am really proud that we were in at the start.