For more than two decades, one of Ilkeston’s most prominent high street buildings has stood empty, gathering dust and frustration in equal measure.
The former Wigfalls TV and electrical store on Bath Street has been shut since 2003. Once a bustling shop where locals queued to buy televisions and radios, it’s now a boarded-up shell and a symbol of how long parts of the town centre have been left behind.
After years of inaction, Erewash Borough Council has finally stepped in, using legal powers under Section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act to demand that the owner repairs and cleans up the site.
If they fail to act, the council says it may step in, carry out the works itself, and recover the cost.
The move comes as part of a wider clean-up, with three more long-term empty buildings also facing formal action – including the former Belle Vue and Andre’s Second Hand Shop, both on Bath Street, and the old Wine Vaults on East Street.
A grant scheme earlier this year offered shopfront improvements of up to £10,000, but the owner of the old Wigfalls building did not apply. The property has instead continued to decay – with peeling paint, rusted shutters and broken windows giving a sorry welcome to anyone walking up around the bottom of Bath Street.
Many residents say it’s long overdue.
“It’s been an eyesore for years,” said one local shopper. “You can’t talk about regenerating Ilkeston while buildings like that are left to rot.”
The building at 110-112 Bath Street has now been empty for 22 years, its ground floor boarded up and upper floors showing signs of damage. Locals still remember when Wigfalls was a landmark name on the high street – a busy store of its day.
The council’s action has been broadly welcomed, but many people are asking why it has taken so long to get to this point, and whether other problem sites in town will finally see progress too.
And as for the former Argos building further up Bath Street – developers there are still waiting for their controversial £215,000 regeneration grant to be signed off…