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Denby Institute's a local gem
IT is certainly easy to miss the Denby Institute as you drive down the B6179 between Ripley and Derby.
My photographer and I had both visited on numerous occasions but still found ourselves annoying the other motorists on Friday by slowing down to peer down various rutted driveways saying, "is it this one? Are you sure?"
"We are hoping to improve the signage at the front. It is fair to say that one of the problems is a lot of people don't even know we're down here," said Matt Waterfall, one of the trustees charged by a charitable trust with taking care of the institute and reviving its fortunes.
Tucked away off the main road on a driveway that looks like it has not been used for a decade or more, the institute cuts a strange sight as you approach over a narrow bridge that carries cars over the Bottle Brook.
Looking like a cross between an air raid shelter and an electricity sub-station, it has become a magnet for bad news stories in recent times – vandalism, noise pollution from an ill-fated skate park project, and more recently an accusation that the whole site was to be sold off to the Banks development group to be used as a balancing pond for surface run-off water from the controversial Cinderhill development on adjacent land.
The trustees are keen to tell a different story though, after working tirelessly throughout 2009 to create what they hope will be a focal point for the community.
Mick Clare, one of the five trustees and chairman of the parish council, said: "At the beginning of the year the previous trustees, who did a fantastic job over 40 years, decided to hand it over to some new people to try and take it forward. We really cannot thank them enough for the work they did over the years but they felt the time was right for a change."
The main room has been redecorated, the stage relaid, and the insulation refitted. Another room has been kitted out as a boxing gym – where trustee and former local fighter Gordon Watson coaches youngsters every week night – and the car park relaid, all by the trustees in their own time.
A barrier has been erected to stop gangs of people in cars meeting there at night and a fence is planned to protect the bowling green.
Mick said: "We want the place to be secure without restricting public access. It was in danger of being completely destroyed by vandalism but we have worked tirelessly with the local police and incidents are down to single figures this year when we would have had five or six times that amount previously.
"Everything here is open for the public. The football pitch is there for teams, or just lads wanting a kick-about, the same with the multi-user games area. We welcome responsible dog walkers as well."
Matt added: "We want this to be a place for people to come. A focal point for the area. If you want to go to the pub now you have to go into Denby village or across to Kilburn. There is not a lot for people
in this part of Denby."
"We have had very positive feedback from the ballroom dancing group, a local band has been using it to practice, and more kids are coming to the boxing sessions every week from as far away as Heanor."
Having done all this work it seems strange that members of the Cinderhill Opposition Group have accused the trustees of trying to sell off the site to Banks to use as a balancing pond.
Mick said: "We can't sell it, it's as simple as that. We are the trustees charged with looking after it. If we were to stop, and no other trustees could be found, then it would revert back to the Coal
Industry Social Welfare Organisation. Any money received for the sale of this site would go to CISWO, not to Denby Parish Council.
"We have been in discussions with Banks but that doesn't necessarily mean we approve of the Cinderhill development. We don't get a say in whether that goes ahead or not so we need to be prepared for whatever the eventual outcome is. It would be remiss of us not to speak to Banks.
"We certainly would not have given up all this time just to have the site flooded and used as a balancing pond.
"It's a site with difficulties but ideally we want to keep the Denby Institute open, for the people in Denby, on this site."
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Weather for Belper
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Light sleet showers
Temperature: -0 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Light snow
Temperature: -3 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: South east
