Businesses urged to leave historic Bolsover mill over safety fears
Companies currently based in Pleasley Vale Business Park Mill One have been told to vacate - because of undisclosed safety concerns
Last updated 14th Oct 2025
Businesses in Pleasley Vale Business Park Mill One have been asked to vacate the premises due to undisclosed ‘safety concerns’.
The companies currently based in Mill One are being asked to leave immediately following advice received by Bolsover District Council from Derbyshire Building Control Partnership.
Council Leader, Cllr Jane Yates, said: “This is a very upsetting situation but our absolute priority is the safety of the businesses in the Mill.
“We have been advised to immediately close, empty and secure the building for safety reasons.
“We understand this is a huge upheaval for the businesses involved and we will do absolutely everything in our power to help them, but we must put safety first.”
The announcement, shared in a formal statement released today, at 4.32pm, Monday, October 13, by the council follows a troubled time after Storm Babet on October 16, 2023, caused a significant negative financial and operational impact on both the landlord and tenants at Pleasley Vale Business Park, at Outgang Lane, at Pleasley Vale.
Bolsover District Council has stated it is working with the businesses to help them relocate and support has been made available with the financial costs of the move.
It added that it is taking specialist advice and guidance on the issues that have
been found but has not yet stipulated what these issues may be.
Bolsover District Council agreed at the end of 2024 to use its financial reserves and implement any necessary borrowing to secure over £770,000 for flood mitigation works and repairs at Pleasley Vale Business Park after the site was struck by Storm Babet.
The council revealed in a previous report that its Business Estates Manager had worked tirelessly to maintain fractured relationships with tenants after they had grown frustrated with the time taken to carry out repairs following Storm Babet, in 2023, and with the failure of infrastructure such as lifts.
But after a Full Council meeting in December, 2024, the local authority agreed to invest over £770,000 for work to start early in the New Year of 2025 to improve flood mitigation measures and essential repairs for safety reasons, the restoration of relations with tenants and to secure redevelopment and income.
The council recognised the need for extensive works in a bid to ensure the park’s three Mill buildings could remain operational in the short-term to generate revenue for the council and to prevent the buildings falling into further disrepair and posing a safety risk.
Pleasley Vale Business Park features 198 units over three mills and outlying buildings, including the Dye House, Stable Block, and the Mill 3 Courtyard, and in the 2023/24 financial year it generated an income of £569,000 with operational liabilities of £460,658 making £145,000 for the council’s budget ‘outturn’.
The council stated, last year, the park has the potential to provide a contribution of over £100,000 per year towards the authority’s General Fund and at that time it claimed there was still a high demand for workspace and it had an 80per cent occupancy rate.
However, the council also recognised the risk posed by a significant area of the site falling within a floodplain and the threat posed by the River Meden meaning that after storms or heavy rainfall the site can become prone to flooding.
During Storm Babet, in October, 2023, the River Meden overflowed and flooded parts of the site causing extensive damage to properties and land including flooding to the ground floor of Mill One and damage to an electricity substation with the financial and economic impact being felt by businesses in December, 2024.
The council has previously stated that effectively managing flood risk and protecting the site from future extreme weather events is of paramount importance if the site is to continue operations.
Beaumont Rivers, an environmental restoration company who specialise in nature recovery and water management techniques, was appointed to oversee a flood mitigation and water management project.
And Derbyshire Wildlife Trust was appointed to produce a Nature Recovery or Blue and Green Infrastructure Masterplan for Pleasley Vale to survey and assess the condition of the site, identify constraints and opportunities for funding and consider collaborations with communities and education providers.
Work was also being done to oversee the renovation and reuse of the two Gatehouse properties, Gardener’s Cottage and Coach House, which are on the Listed Buildings at Risk register.
The council’s agreed investment of over £770,000 was earmarked to help repair and improve the dam wall and 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.
Other targeted work included improving a fire alarm system, the drainage network, installing a new lift in Mill Two which has been out of service for over a year and new flood defence doors for the substation at Mill One.
The council recognised the need for a full intrusive structural survey to locate a potential culvert under Mill Three as well as a structural survey for Mill Three’s outbuildings which had seen visible signs of movement.
Other urgent work identified by the council included roof replacements for Mill One and Mill Two including new lintels and repairs to crumbling brickwork, the replacement of corroded steel lintels and window frames and the removal of vegetation growing from the buildings along with repairs to damaged stonework and copings.
The council endorsed its continued investment in the Pleasley Vale Business Park and Conservation Area at the council meeting in December, 2024.
It agreed that £428,537 of council reserves were to be used to fund the park works and that should any leftover reserve funding allocated to other previous schemes not be available to meet the £342,463 shortfall for the latest work, additional borrowing to fill this gap would be allowed.
The council had stated that it aimed to safeguard Pleasley Vale and to develop the site into a quality venue that integrates business accommodation, leisure facilities, tourism and accommodation with a sustainable regeneration scheme.
Following the council’s latest announcement that businesses are now being asked to vacate the premises at Pleasley Vale Business Park Mill One, for ‘safety concerns’, it stated it is looking closely at options for the future of the Mills 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.