Will 2026 finally see progress for the Belper Mills?

Six months ago, there was hope for change to the crumbling Derwent Valley Mills world heritage site, which has been patiently awaiting a decision on its future for decades.

An outcome on a planning application was floated for the end of 2025.

However, there are now concerns that progress on the Belper Mills faces further delay, after the council in charge of reviewing plans for the site said it could not confirm when it would feed back on the proposals.

Belper Mills, a key part of the Unesco world heritage site, are in "poor condition" having stood largely derelict for decades.

It had been hoped that redevelopment plans by the owners of the Georgian mills, First Investments Real Estate Management, would be heard in November or December last year.

However, Amber Valley Borough Council said in a recent statement that the planning application would now not be heard until "the early months of the new year".

It also said it could not comment on whether or not that would include a definitive decision.

It has led to the Labour MP for the area, Jonathan Davies, calling on the council to make a decision on the application as soon as possible.

"If there is anything I can do to help Amber Valley move this on, just let me know, because I'm keen to grease the wheels," he said.

"A lot of work has gone in by the owners of the site and also by the statutory consultees in terms of getting that planning application to a space where everybody is pretty much happy."

First Investments had previously told the BBC that they were submitting plans to both Amber Valley and Unesco with a view to both receiving a decision "by the end of the year".

An application to convert the mills into apartments, as well as ground floor commercial uses, was submitted to Amber Valley Borough Council in 2018 but not determined.

Unesco has previously outlined "grave concerns" about the Derwent Valley site, with large-scale development cited as an issue.

Current plans for the site include an agreement in principle, which would see the North Mill redeveloped into a museum and heritage centre.

The larger East Mill would be converted into about 130 homes of various sizes.

Davies also said possible investment of £4.5m by the Labour East Midlands mayor Claire Ward was "significant" in potentially unlocking the project, and would mark a change in how potential investors viewed it.

A mix of public and private investment funding is seen as crucial to ensuring the financial stability of the project, given recent estimates have put the overall repair and conversion costs as high as £65m.

"[The mayoral investment] is a real change because financial viability has been a big concern about this project," he said.

"But I do know it's a very complicated application... Unesco world heritage site, Historic England, set a very high bar and rightly so for the quality of these developments and sympathetic they must be due to the historic nature of their surroundings."

The mayor's office said the owners of the mills needed to submit a business case to receive the funding by March before a decision could be made.

The application has been made to the government's Brownfield Housing Fund, which aims to support the government's housebuilding targets in local authorities across the country.

However, the £4.5m bid is likely to be a drop in the ocean compared to the scale of funds needed for the project.

In a letter to the council seen by the BBC, the Derbyshire Historic Buildings Trust originally said it should refuse the latest planning application.

It said it was concerned the project was still not financially viable and questioned whether sufficient repairs had been carried out to the site over the past several years.

However, the letter has since been withdrawn and a new chair of the trust installed, who has issued a statement in support of the application.

Tim Knowles, founder and managing director First Investments, said it was "proud" to be investing in the "unique, historic site".

"We are in the process of making an application to East Midlands County Combined Authority's Brownfield Housing Fund to bring forward 130 homes at the site, and we continue to work closely with Amber Valley Borough Council," he said.

"It is anticipated that the next stage of the site's future will go to planning committee in early 2026."

A spokesperson for Amber Valley Borough Council said: "Officers have been working with the applicant on the project, and the latest information which has recently been submitted by the applicant is being considered.

"It is anticipated that the officer's report and recommendation will be finalised in the early months of the new year."

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