Our story
The Peak District is the UK's original national park, covering 555 square miles and attracting over 13 million tourism visits each year. With the staycation and wellbeing market booming, demand for national parks is predicted to rise exponentially over the coming years, sustainability is becoming an increasing important factor.
One of the main intentions of the PEAK Gateway national park gateway ‘resort town’ is to reduce the amount of vehicle traffic on the roads throughout the Peak District National Park. Currently, 85% of visitors arrive by car, so this will make a big difference. The PEAK Gateway will have parking and services to book onward travel into the park and the opportunity to shift into electric cars, group transport and more sustainable ways of exploring the park's natural beauty spots.
The 300-acre PEAK resort site was first secured in 1988 following a long period of open cast. The land has now been fully reclaimed and prepared with the resort development in mind. Planning permission for over 5000 mixed-market beds and leisure facilities has been granted for the development, supported by zero carbon access to a National Park with its protected landscape and attractions. The construction project broke ground in 2025 and phase one is scheduled to open to visitors 2027/8.
Developer Milligan teamed up with Birchall Properties the landowner to form a JV to realise the PEAK Gateway alongside strategic partners Chesterfield Borough Council, The University of Derby and The Peak District National Park Authority. PEAK Gateway will be the UK's first fully-serviced national park gateway and forms the central feature of the 300-acre PEAK resort development.
By utilising the new 'PEAK standard' ESG metric comparison tool, PEAK's sustainability goals will be completely transparent on pre-defined industry sector standards. PEAK will be able to share performance and improvements with stakeholders and visitors alike as well as quantify its offset on a long-term basis.
The University of Derby, one of the UK's leading hospitality and tourism institutions will bring leading thinkers and applied learning students into PEAK Gateway. With the project team, it has identified a number of work streams which will ensure leading edge thinking: defining world-leading initiatives around sustainable tourism; sustainable design principles for the PEAK Gateway development itself, landscape led development, whole life carbon analysis and materials selection; sustainable construction methods/circular economy; data collection and performance monitoring; geotechnics and geosciences; environmental impact assessments and biodiversity planning.
PEAK will offer world class biking, hiking, trail walking, nature, culture and heritage experiences, 365 days a year. In addition, PEAK will create thousands of local jobs and the project will generate social value by introducing a programme of initiatives within the local community and beyond throughout the planning, design and construction programmes and the delivery supply chains.
Our advice
Find inspiration everywhere! Inspiration for this project came from organisations in the charitable, public and private sectors, both in the UK and overseas.
Broaden your reach. The development of PEAK offers an opportunity to realise a new mixed-use development on a smart low-carbon infrastructure available to a wide socio-economic market, thus encouraging sustainable lifestyles and employment to a broad audience.
Set high standards. The project will create and operate the PEAK Standard or kite mark: a simple-to-use metric comparison tool drawn from the myriad of existing environmental, social and governance accreditations which are relevant to all the goods and services required to build and operate PEAK. All contractors, suppliers, operators and tenants must test themselves, their products and their supply chains against the PEAK Standard and measure their performance. Thus a 'living' blueprint for development and operations of mixed-use campuses can be made available.
Reconnect with nature. A critical factor in progressing the development was the acquisition of a landfill and opencast site and its reclamation over 35 years. This reclamation is well documented and can be experienced on a site tour. Of the 300 acres approximately 30% will be developed with 70% remaining for both managed and wild nature.
Our Changeprint
Our Changeprint can be measured by continued biodiversity gains (70% of the reclaimed estate will be set aside for nature); reduced carbon emissions (linking up trails and country lanes of the Peak District without the need for a car); health and wellness benefits (by establishing the largest integrated off and on road cycling and hiking region in the UK); and the increased engagement and delight in nature by millions of people (predictive modelling estimates that PEAK Gateway will attract almost 3 million visitors annually).
