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165 room hotel and leisure complex will act like a traffic-free ski resort for the Derbyshire Peaks

£300m site will be a car-free hub – taking guests into the Peaks for biking and hiking, nature, heritage, sport and culture

The Gateway at the PEAK would be sited just outside Chesterfield(Image: Destination Chesterfield)

An architect has been brought in to draw up plans for a 165 room resort hotel and leisure complex in the Derbyshire Peak District. Stanton Williams have been appointed as lead architects by Peak Gateway Properties for phase one of the £300 million investment on a 300 acre site near Chesterfield.

Scheduled to open in late 2026, it will include a hotel, food and drinks outlets and shops – with a zero-carbon transport service taking visitors to and from attractions in the Peak District National Park, without the need for their car. It is hoped the site will also make all of its own energy and process its own waste.

The Gateway, which would be phase one of the PEAK Gateway Resort, represents a £150 million investment and would support more than 1,000 jobs.

Landowner Birchall Properties has invested more than 35 years regenerating the 300-acre Birchall Estate, where the resort will go, following years of open-cast mining.

The next stage of planning consents will be submitted to Chesterfield Borough Council this autumn.

Stirling Prize winning architects Stanton Williams will be part of a team led by Milligan, a specialist destination and mixed-use real estate developer, which is working closely with partners including Chesterfield Borough Council, The University of Derby and the Peak District National Park Authority.

The team also includes landscape architects Gillespies, engineering consultants Cundall, and Inspire Design and Development focusing on drainage and transport, and project management specialists Turner & Townsend.

A spokesman for Milligan said: “The Gateway at PEAK will be an international standard tourist destination providing a basecamp and a gateway into the 550 square mile Peak District National Park.