National Stone Centre's £6.5m plans approved

The plans were unanimously approved

Plans for a £6.5m visitor attraction at the National Stone Centre in Derbyshire have been approved.

Derbyshire Dales District Council approved the plans for a new discovery centre, museum, cafe, shop and children's playground at the centre in Wirksworth.

The plans, which also include offices and an exhibition space, were put forward by the centre and the Institute of Quarrying.

The application was unanimously approved but concerns were raised over sewage disposal at the site at the meeting on Tuesday.

The National Stone Centre first opened in 1990

The existing 30-year-old discovery centre would be demolished under the plans, once the new structure is completed, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

Pete Harrington, owner of the nearby Ravenstor Industrial Estate, told the meeting that he felt the development would be a "huge benefit to Wirksworth" but that sewage disposal "had not been considered".

James Thorne, CEO of the Institute of Quarrying, based in Nottingham, told the meeting: "This is a genuine opportunity to have an international base for the mineral products industry, which is actually now the largest manufacturing industry in this country."

He said the site would have links with Derby College and Chesterfield College.

Tourism hopes

Councillor Helen Frogatt said: "Everything about this proposal was first rate, all the boxes ticked and it is going to bring an awful lot of tourism to Wirksworth and I think we should welcome it with open arms."

Officers agreed that approval would be on the conditions that the sewer system would be detailed and upgraded before works on the "super structure" start.

The National Stone Centre opened in 1990.