Businesses fear ‘uncertainty’ after Derbyshire council evacuated offices based in old mill
Bolsover District Council, which manages Pleasley Vale Business Park, told businesses there to vacate the premises earlier this month
A worried businessman has told how there is a sense of ‘uncertainty’ among disrupted tenants at a troubled business park after he claims he was given very short notice by a Derbyshire council to evacuate part of the site with others over ‘structural safety concerns’.
Bolsover District Council, which manages Pleasley Vale Business Park, issued a news alert on October 13 that businesses at the park’s Mill One building were being asked to vacate the premises due to ‘safety concerns’ before the council announced late on October 17 that some tenants are now being allowed to return while work is underway.
But Pete McDonagh, owner and co-founder of martial arts and fitness centre Raven Defensive Arts, at the business park, on Outgang Lane, says the latest reprieve feels like a ‘stay of execution’ after the business park was badly damaged by Storm Babet in 2023 and it has now undergone a ‘structural safety’ warning alongside fears the site may be converted for residential use.
Director Mr McDonagh, who claims he received less than a day’s notice to evacuate the site, said: “I got the notice when a couple of students sent a screenshot of the news story and a fellow tenant sent me a message while I was on my way to a job and he said have you had an email? And I said I hadn’t even seen or received an email.”
Bolsover District Council stressed the decision to vacate Mill One was taken as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of all occupants while Mills Two and Three were unaffected and remain operational.
Council Leader, Cllr Jane Yates, previously said the council’s ‘absolute priority’ was the safety of the businesses and the authority had been advised to immediately close, empty and secure the building for safety reasons after listening to the Derbyshire Building Control Partnership which ensures safety and welfare regulations.
Mr McDonagh said Sylvan Furniture, at the business, park, had been sent an email from the council which had accidentally been forwarded to others so by the time the council planned to release formal updates to all the tenants many had become aware of the situation during October 15 and they realised they had only been given until 6pm that day to empty and vacate their units.
He added that ‘it was absolutely unrealistic’ for his business to clear out over £30,000 worth of equipment in less than a day so he like some others decided to stay on the site.
Mechanical engineer Mr McDonagh said: “We assessed the building and we decided the building was not in any danger as described so we decided to stay 24 hours a day. They could not lock the doors and they could not lock you out.”
A meeting in Shirebrook organised by the council for October 16 offered no satisfactory answers for tenants and about 20 affected businesses, according to Mr McDonagh.
The council stated it had been working with the affected businesses to help them relocate and support has been made available with the financial costs of the move.
However, one concerned Raven Defensive Arts member said that despite the council claiming it would help to secure alternative premises and storage, Raven Defensive Arts had received none of this support.
Mr McDonagh, who says his business has now been cleared to remain on site, said: “They said they were working with tenants to support the move. They have not supported tenants, they did not communicate, they did not tell us until Wednesday, and they had no reasonable answers to anything asked.”
The council stated that a site visit on October 16 was carried out to
allow a structural engineer to re-assess the risk to the ‘B/C/D block’
of the building and the risk was presented to the council and a decision has now been made that some tenants can return and occupy their units.
But Mr McDonagh, who says there are ‘inconsistencies’ and a sense of ‘uncertainty’ at the business park, has questioned how a building can suddenly be declared potentially unsafe and within days suddenly be deemed to be safe.
Some are also concerned the building may be sold and that there may be plans to empty the property for either redevelopment or for residential use.
Mr McDonagh said: “The council could not get flood insurance so that site could not be used for residential use and purpose but they have started repairing the flood defences and now it can be used for ‘residential’.
“And the general consensus across the businesses and others is that they have been made an offer and it needed to be cleared as soon as possible and we just fear it is a stay of execution.”
Mr McDonagh added that a further confusing element is that tenants have been told the council development company Dragonfly is their landlord after the council recently agreed to dissolve this organisation and bring it back in-house.
He said: “Our business relies on family groups that we bring in and with the announcement made on social media there are a lot of families who cannot and will not trust whether the building is safe and we are losing business. We feel like we are on borrowed time.”
The council confirmed the authority and Dragonfly Management officers held a meeting on October 16 with the Derbyshire Building Control Partnership and the appointed structural engineers to review the information presented in an earlier structural report.
This was followed up with a site visit, a reassessment of the risk to the ‘B/C/D block’ which was presented to the council before it decided to allow some tenants to return to their units.
The council also stated that a series of works is now to be undertaken by the council to certain other units to make them safe and until that work is carried out those units will remain closed.
Council Deputy Leader, Cllr Donna Hales, said: “The reopening of parts of the Mill is encouraging but we must remain cautious with the remaining units until we have either made them safe or carried out more checks.
“This work is essential to the health and safety of our tenants. We understand this process has been deeply unsettling for businesses but we are working
hard to get everyone back to work as soon as possible. We anticipate every business will be back in the business park in the future.”
Pleasley Vale Business Park, which lies on a floodplain with a flooding threat posed by the River Meden, had been identified by the council for repair work as long ago as December, 2024, with extensive renovations planned to get underway at the beginning of 2025 after damage caused by Storm Babet in October, 2023, and due to the storm’s financial and operational impact.
Bolsover District Council agreed in 2024 to invest over £770,000 to help with repairs, improvements and flood mitigation measures including repairing the dam wall and to make sure the Mill building One pond can capture an increased level of water from the River Meden to slow the flow downstream into Mill building Two and under the culverts in Mill building Three.
The council revealed in a previous report that its Business Estates Manager had already been working to maintain fractured relationships with tenants after they had grown frustrated with the time taken to carry out repairs following Storm Babet and with the failure of infrastructure such as lifts.
Bolsover District Council has stated it is looking closely at options for the future of the Mills at Pleasley Vale Business Park, on the edge of Mansfield near Derbyshire, with an understanding that the buildings are an important part of the district’s industrial history.
The history of the Mills dates back to 1784, according to the council, and since then they have been used as a cotton spinning mill, munitions factory and now as a business park with 198 units over three mills and outlying buildings.