The ongoing refusal of Derbyshire County Council (DCC) to pause their plans for the East West cycle route and engage in a proper consultation is causing a great deal of anger and frustration, particularly for those residents who will be most affected by the proposals.

It is very embarrassing for DCC that they have been forced to reopen Crow Lane as any further close was considered unlawful. I believe that DCC have acted both incompetently and undemocratically in the management of this process and the consultation process is both flawed and illegitimate. It appears clear to me that the 4,000 consultation letters that DCC claim to have sent out to residents were never delivered, and the three-week online consultation, undertaken whilst the country was dealing with the pandemic, was insufficient and not a genuine attempt to secure the views of local people.

I had a meeting with Cllr Athwal and local councillors before Christmas and expressed my concerns about the letters that people had not received and the short timeframe for the consultation. Cllr Athwal dismissed the concerns and said that even if the letters were not delivered, the Council had no duty to send them as part of the consultation. He also stood by the three-week consultation process and made it clear that he did not care about the concerns and objections being raised by people in Chesterfield and that DCC were proceeding whether local people agreed or not.

I subsequently had a meeting with the then Minister for Cycling, Chris Heaton-Harris MP, who informed me that whilst guidance is provided regarding the consultation process, the final decision is up to local authorities and the Government will not intervene. The Minister also made it clear that alternative routes could be considered and rejected any suggestion that the funding was “take-it-or-leave-it” for the route proposed by DCC.  The Minister made it clear that they did not dictate routes and that the national guidance estates to use road space if is there, there was no mandate on this and that local authorities can decide what is best for their area. So there is no reason why alternative suggestions, such as closing Dark Lane instead of Crow Lane or having a cross-country path instead of using Chatsworth Road, could not be considered.

I have written again to Cllr Barry Lewis, Leader at Derbyshire County Council, to once again call for him to pause the current plans and have a proper consultation that will allow local people to share their concerns, propose alternative routes or share their support for the proposals. These changes will have massive effect on our town, transport network and on the lives of people who live along the route so a full, in-depth consultation process is needed, not a shabby attempt to gerrymander the result to rubber stamp a decision already made by DCC.