'That whole corner seems stuck really and we need to get development there'

BID TO SPARK ACTION ON FORMER POWER STATION SITE WHICH CLOSED DOWN MORE THAN 25 YEARS AGO

- By EDDIE BISKNELL Local democracy reporter

The former Willington Power Station site

MOVES are afoot to spark action on a former power station site which has lain derelict for more than a quarter of a century.

The former Willington Power Station site in south Derbyshire, between the River Trent and the A50, closed in 1999 and has been redundant for 26 years.

Various development plans for the site, including housing and energy generation, have been rejected and stalled indefinitely. However, decades later the site and its five 91-metre high cooling towers, visible for miles around, remain.

Now, a planned springboard to bring the site back to eventual use has been put forward by Derbyshire County Council through funding for studies into improving the site access.

The proposal, which forms part of the Reform-run authority's rejigged regeneration pipeline, aims to assess “access and connectivity plus interface with development potential” and look at “redevelopment for commercial purposes (e.g. energy), market interest; access”.