Chesterfield pensioner and councillor launch group set to stand against disruption caused by roadworks – with first public meeting to take place next week

Adrian Rimington, of Holme Hall, and Labour Councillor Gavin Baldauf-Good, Chesterfield Borough councillor representing Linacre ward, have teamed up to launch Derbyshire People Against Roadworks (DPAR) group.

The group is set to bring residents together to fight against ‘badly planned’ roadworks and ‘lack of sufficient communication’ from Derbyshire County Council, causing traffic chaos and severe disruption across Chesterfield and North-East Derbyshire.

Speaking at a meeting hosted at Chesterfield Library on Wednesday, April 15, Mr Rimington, said: “Derbyshire County Council is inconveniencing people on the volume and severity of roadworks.

"My view is that we should set up DPAR to challenge the council.

"Reform UK has 42 councillors at the Derbyshire County Council, while Conservatives have 11, Labour three, Green and Lib Dems three and Independents two members.

“Opposition have no say to challenge these roadworks so we need to challenge and question the way council plans these roadworks.”

Councillor Gavin Baldauf-Good, who is representing Linacre ward, said he has received a number of complaints from residents regarding roadworks.

Speaking in his personal capacity, he explained: “Two main issues are the lack of communication from the council and multiple road closures at once.

"One resident who contacted me said that they shut his road off and didn’t inform anyone.

"He has an electric car and couldn’t drive it back home so he had to charge it at a public charging point and pay for it.”

The Derbyshire Times has received a number of complaints about roadworks in recent weeks with residents reporting “traffic chaos” across Chesterfield and North-East Derbyshire.

Hundreds of residents said they were struggling to get to work and school or reach appointments on time due to several sets of traffic lights around Tupton at the beginning of April.

This was due works taking place at Four Lanes End Roundabout (the A61/Queen Victoria Road/Nethermoor Road) and Green Lane (by the primary school).

Mr Rimington said that one person reported that due roadworks in Tupton affecting traffic and public transport, her journey to work took almost two hours.

Residents have also complained about the lack of clear communication from Derbyshire County Council.

Many business owners and schools were left concerned at the end of March, after an official announcement on the CausewayOne portal stated that a stretch of Storforth Lane in Chesterfield would be subject to a closure due to to roadworks between Monday, March 30 and Sunday, July 26.

Some business owners tried to contact Derbyshire County Council to find out exact timetable of the planned works but were unable to receive any detailed information from the authority.

Further concerns were raised by a local school Outwood Academy Hasland Hall, which has issued a warning to the school community.

After being contacted by Derbyshire County Council has clarified that the works would only take a few days – but the authority has applied for an extended time window to carry out the works due to “cover all eventualities”.

Mr Rimington said he contacted Cllr Charlotte Hill, Cabinet Member for Potholes, Highways and Transport, on several occasions to complain about the way roadworks were planned and submitted a number of Freedom of Information Requests to find out more about the works.

DPAR is set to run a number of public meetings across Chesterfield to bring together residents affected roadworks and discuss the next steps.

Cllr Ross Shipman, Leader of North East Derbyshire Independents Group and cabinet member for Tupton, has worked with DPAR to secure the venue for the first public meeting, which will take place at 7pm on Monday, April 27 at Tupton Community Hub, off Nethermoor Road in Tupton.

DPAR is also appealing to any Chesterfield-based organisations, which can provide a room free of charge to hold future meetings – with plans to organise several meetings in different parts of Chesterfield to better understand concerns of local communities.

Any organisation which can provide a venue for one of DPAR’s meetings, is asked to contact Adrian Rimington via phone at 07766492190 or via email at [email protected].

Commenting on issues with roadworks, Councillor Charlotte Hill, Derbyshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Potholes, Highways and Transport, said: “As a driver, I appreciate that getting caught in roadworks is frustrating.

“We do our best to manage planned roadworks being carried out by our teams or by private companies to minimise disruption to motorists.

“At any one time, there are around 70 separate sets of planned roadworks taking place across our county every day, most of which are utility companies works to maintain and improve their gas, water, electricity and telecoms services.

“On top of this, there are many emergency repairs which cannot be planned for and have to take priority to maintain essential services for local residents.

“Where works – planned or otherwise - are carried out by utility companies it is up to these private companies to inform residents and road users.

“Where we have our own planned work, such as surface dressing, we provide information for our contractors to share with residents, including letters and notices attached to streetlights and installing temporary information signs of forthcoming work.

“In Chesterfield and North East Derbyshire particularly, there are also a large number of new housing developments, providing new local homes for local people, which have to be connected to the utilities buried below our main roads, and in this case frequently the A61.

“Coupled with the sheer volume of traffic on the A61 and the need to maintain and fix our roads which is what residents expect of us, I’m afraid that drivers will inevitably face some delays for which we apologise.

“To help people plan their journeys, all the planned roadworks can be seen here CausewayOne.”