28 June 2026
As a long-standing resident of Buxton, I like my husband, Mark was initially happy and hopeful to hear that the town centre was to be invested it. I attended all the open public consultations and very quickly became completely disillusioned. This investment in the town centre is nothing more than a land grab for a housing development. When questioned about any new retail units that would be created in the new development, it was made clear they wouldn't be large and could easily be changed into housing units if a retailer couldn't be found to fill them. The current Capital & Centric plan is a travesty and detrimental to our historic town. My objections to the plan are based on the following points. 1. The proposed buildings are up to as much as five storeys and would totally overpower the nearby historic buildings, including the Grade 2 Winster Place building. The skyline would be completely damaged, and the historic nature of the adjacent conservation areas completely compromised and overshadowed. 2. The building of 332 properties in this small area would lead to an overcrowded residential area, with inadequate parking, which would in turn lead to a loss of retail units. If people cannot park to shop, they won't shop, retail will die, including Waitrose and the town centre will, as a result, die. The accommodation is described as being suitable for all lifestyles. It is only rental, and only 5% will be affordable accommodation. 3. Only 75 homes were required under the terms of the Government Grant. The initial proposal for this plan in May 2025 was 120. I and many others made it very clear to Capital & Centric and HPBC that this was too many. Sadly, despite saying that they had listened to people's comments, the number of homes was increased to 250 in September 2025. As previously noted, that figure now stands at 332. This is nothing more than a land grab for housing and it's clear that little if any attention was paid to the opinion of the residents. 4. During the initial consultation I was amazed to be told by Capital & Centric that residents would not need cars. Buxton is not a city. We have both poor bus and train services and the majority of people are reliant on their cars for work, shopping, hospital visits etc. There are currently 422 parking spaces on the Spring's site with a plan to reduce this by 30%. Since the proposed plan assumes that 50% of residents in the new development will require cars, there will only be 120 spaces left for other Buxton residents, visitors and shoppers, which is totally inadequate. The nature and number of the disabled parking spaces must also be taken into consideration. It has been rumoured that a piece of land located away from the proposed development site, that is owned by DB Schenker, will used for carparking in an attempt to remedy this problem. This was not part of any consultations. Since the proposed area is not close to the shopping area it certainly would not be conducive to wheeling a shopping trolly from, for example Waitrose. It would also require an access point which would lead to unacceptable issues with pedestrian safety, including school [Page 2] children walking to a nearby school, impact on Tree Preservation Orders and it would also impact the nearby Grade II Fan Window. 5. The proposed design and building materials for the proposed plan do not compliment the historic architecture of Buxton. The designs are a cut and paste of the developments that Capital & Centric have built in cities and towns without the historic architecture of Buxton. The buildings are ugly and angular. The materials do not echo those used in Buxton, a cement mix including limestone and/or gritstone is not solid stone. Fake copper sheets, a so-called nod to the Duke of Devonshire's copper mines combined with sheets of glass, not only don't compliment Buxton, they create the feeling of a separate town within the town. There is also an inclusion of a viewing tower. That is supposed to represent a Maypole. It is nothing more than an ugly concrete tower, and since it would be located in the lowest part of Buxton, I'm not sure what you would see from it, other than this proposed ugly housing estate. The best viewing point to see the beauty of Buxton is from The Slopes. Sadly, this view would be compromised by this development given its size and the five storey buildings. I also note that Capital & Centric also include their branding logo. This is totally unacceptable and once again flies in the face of the town's heritage and important historic buildings. 6. I cannot see that there are any plans to support existing businesses if this huge development did take place. This would lead to a real risk to current businesses and a real risk of Buxton losing its only town centre supermarket and other shops. 7. It appears that there has been no assessment done on the impact on local infrastructure, including schools, nurseries, doctors and hospitals. In essence this development, as it stands, would actually lead to the demise of Buxton's town centre. A much smaller development of 75 houses, with architecture that does compliment the historic buildings of Buxton, not more than three storeys high, and using local stone, would be much more in keeping. There must be no loss of accessible parking for shops, including disabled parking. Funding should also be made available to improve and enhance Spring Gardens ' the main shopping street and conservation area. All in all, a much better plan and less costly, to regenerate Buxton's town centre, than that of the current proposed plan.