Two-thirds in favour of sports centre design

The consultation, which took place during July and August, sought comments on the design of the new Queen’s Park Sports Centre. A total of 976 people submitted their thoughts online and Chesterfield Council described the feedback as “generally positive”.

Chesterfield Council’s executive member for leisure, culture and tourism, Coun Amanda Serjeant, said: “Thanks to everyone who has taken the time and effort to take part in the latest phase of consultation about the designs for the new Queen’s Park Sports Centre.

“The new centre has been the subject of a lot of public debate and we are pleased with the number of people who came forward to have their say. We will work with the architects to incorporate the findings into the final design proposals before a planning application is made in the autumn.”

Two-thirds of respondents said they were “happy with how the new building will fit into its surroundings” and around the same number said they were happy with the layout and design of the new centre, and proposed access for the disabled.

Respondents were, however, split on plans for the centre’s colour scheme, with half voting for a “darker, graphite grey” option and 50 per cent for light grey. Another section of the consultation asked for views on the new café.

Forty-seven per cent of people said they preferred “a mix of tables and chairs and comfy seating”, 76 per cent asked for a café selling drinks and light meals, 83 per cent thought it was “important the café offered healthy options” and 73 per cent of respondents said they would use free wi-fi in the café.

A full report on the outcome of the public consultation has been made available for people to download from the Chesterfield Council website.