Heritage experts have launched a fight to save an historic building from being bulldozed in Belper.
The Derwent Valley World Heritage Site group yesterday voiced its opposition at a planning inquiry to the scheme to knock down the 150-year-old George Brettles Factory on Chapel Street and build flats in its place.
The heritage group said the fact
ory was vital to the town's history because it was "the heart of the World Heritage Site".
A Government planning inspector will decide if the application for the former hosiery factory should go ahead because the scheme had been turned down by Amber Valley Borough Council and the developers Chevin Property had appealed against the decision.
Adrian Farmer, co-ordinator of the World Heritage Site, told the hearing the building should be preserved.
"Brettles tells a significant part of how Belper developed under Strutts and is therefore the heart of the world heritage site," he said.
He wants to see the factory converted into apartments and preserved for future generations.
In its appeal the Brailsford development firm, which owns the site, claimed the building added little to the conservation area.
It said the proposal, including a three-storey block containing 15 homes with outline permission for four houses on the opposite side of the car park, complied with policy and improved the street scene.
Permission was refused by the borough council because the Local Plan says buildings in conservation areas cannot be demolished if they make a positive contribution to the appearance of the area, unless the developers meet specific criteria.
Inspector Olivia Spencer's decision on the plan should be delivered in seven weeks.
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