Government urged to progress latest stages for delayed Chesterfield-Staveley bypass scheme

The Chesterfield-Staveley Regeneration Route project, currently overseen by EMCCA and Derbyshire County Council’s highways authority, aims to reduce traffic congestion, create new jobs and open up a growth corridor for businesses as part of a series of plans for the region and its progress is due to be considered at an EMCCA Transport and Digital Connectivity meeting on January 15.

An EMMCA spokesperson stated: “The Outline Business Case has been submitted to DfT’s Large Local Majors programme. The department are due to make decisions on this programme in 2026, committing to completion of the current stages of the programme is key in re-affirming the suitability of the scheme.”

Derbyshire County Council originally submitted an outline business case to the former Conservative Government after working closely with Chesterfield Borough Council originally seeking £141m to support delivery of the project and a local contribution of £25m was also required to fund the overall scheme which would bring its grand total cost to £166m but its estimated cost has now stretched to £197m.

The Labour Government has not yet made any commitments to provide the remaining overall estimated, necessary funding to complete and get the Chesterfield-Staveley bypass scheme up-and-running but EMCCA has stressed that it will keep engaging with Government and partners to make sure any future funding decisions reflect the needs of the area.

After securing £2.5m for a ground investigation, EMCCA is now looking to confirm approval on funding pots to support the bypass scheme’s progress including assistance through the provision of immediate revenue of £3m in 2026/27 ahead of any planning consent.

It is also considering confirming further capital allocations of £5m in 2027/28, and £5m in 2028/29 for developmental stages, as well as £44m to be accessed from 2031/32 which would follow the hoped for Government Large Local Major Programme grant.

The Chesterfield-Staveley Regeneration Route scheme is critical to unlocking land across the Staveley and Rother Valley Corridor, according to EMCCA, to facilitate plans for 1,500 new homes and 5,700 new jobs as set out in the Chesterfield Local Plan and the business case for the scheme was submitted to the DfT as long ago as 2023.

EMCCA says the delivery of housing on this vast area of brownfield land will also protect other greenfield sites from future development where housing would be far less sustainable and accessible.

The Labour-run combined authority has already allocated £2.5m of Transport for City Regions funding towards the development and investigation of options for the Chesterfield-Staveley Regeneration Route plans to support the business case for the scheme involving a single carriageway road, releasing housing growth and regeneration opportunities.

EMCCA’s Mayor Claire Ward has confirmed that ground investigations could take place as soon as March, 2026, to establish the condition of the land for the potential scheme.

The funding has been used to support the ground investigation works on the planned alignment of the scheme and on the adjacent land which had previously been ring fenced for previous HS2 plans which collapsed and led to the release of this land.

An EMCCA spokesperson stated: “This work will continue into 2026-27 as originally scheduled, with further support intended from the EMCCA allocation. The lead sponsor and partner organisations including EMCCA have responded to the DfT’s Large Local Major Programme survey and are continuing discussions with the LLM Programme team.”

Ms Ward has previously stated she has been keen to invest money for a feasibility study for the bypass scheme subject to a business case and a ground investigation while awaiting a Government decision on the scheme to formally give it the go-ahead.

The project was reported as the county’s most expensive, proposed infrastructure scheme after its estimated costs increased to £166m in December, 2022, and it had been hoped that a Government decision about the funding would have been announced sooner.

If the proposed 5.7km road goes ahead it is also hoped it will unlock the development of the former Staveley Works site for new housing, commercial units and community spaces, and also the former Staveley Chemical Works site for employment uses.

Investment in the Chesterfield-Staveley bypass, the Staveley Growth Corridor, and the EMCCA-backed Investment Zone Hartington Commerce Park Investment Zone are also expected to support many of the projects currently being delivered through the Government-funded £25.2m Staveley Town Deal regeneration plans.

EMCCA is also urging Derbyshire County Council’s highways authority to approve other preparatory, development plans as soon as possible so they can be included among recommendations to be considered and hopefully approved at an EMCCA board meeting in March.

These include a revenue spend of £1.5m in 2026/27 and £2m in 2027/28 to be used to develop and test feasibility options to determine a preferred option to develop the business case, as well as £3m in 2026/27 as the revenue allocation required to complete actions for the Large Local Majors submission to the Department for Transport.

The initial request for a £3m revenue allocation could potentially be reduced for this early period and this is being reviewed by Derbyshire officers, according to EMCCA.

An EMCCA report entitled, EMCCA Additional Highways Maintenance Investment – Case for Investment, has also stated that since the bypass scheme was developed, key sites along the corridor have been designated by the Government as part of the East Midlands Investment Zone.

Hartington-Staveley is one of three sites within EMIZ and will focus on high value, rail-linked advanced manufacturing and green technologies and the Corridor is also identified as a key growth site within EMCCA’s Vision for Growth supporting the bypass scheme, according to the report.

The report states: “Without the Chesterfield-Staveley Regeneration Route, increasing congestion along the existing A619 corridor is likely to be detrimental to air quality and journey time reliability between Chesterfield and the M1 motorway.

“Failure to address poor air quality will further exacerbate the significant health deprivation challenges faced by communities in the area.”

It adds: “Development of land within the corridor has an absolute dependency on delivery of the Chesterfield-Staveley Regeneration Route.

“Associated with this regeneration opportunity, the existing A619 through the communities of Staveley and Brimington is congested, impacting upon reliability of bus services and contributing to an Air Quality Management Area declaration.”

EMMCA’s report states that the overall funding grant sought from Government in the scheme’s business case was originally £141m but the authority says that unless this can now be increased it leaves a funding gap of £56m against the current cost estimate of £197m.

The bypass scheme hopes to provide a new 5.7km single carriageway, opening up the Staveley and Rother Valley Corridor for regeneration by facilitating development of 150 hectares of severely degraded land, bringing much needed regeneration and opportunity to deprived communities.

EMCCA’s investment report added: “Ultimately, the objective of [the] Chesterfield-Staveley Regeneration Route is to be the catalyst for wholesale regeneration of a vast area of degraded land and provide opportunity and aspiration to deprived communities that will not happen without large-scale, public sector intervention.”

It is hoped the scheme will provide economic growth, jobs and homes, a primary school, leisure opportunities and revive brownfield land as part of plans for the Staveley Growth Corridor which will be largely dependent upon the Chesterfield-Staveley bypass being built.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has acknowledged the support and the arguments for the bypass after Chesterfield Labour MP Toby Perkins recently urged the PM during Prime Minister’s Questions at the House of Commons to ensure the project finally gets the green light.

The long-awaited Chesterfield-Staveley bypass scheme aims to run from the roundabout, at Sainsbury’s supermarket, on the A619, in Chesterfield, to the Heritage Green Estate before finishing at Hall Lane, in Staveley.

EMCCA is expected to note the successful progress of the delivery of its overall Transport Investment Programme concerning regional schemes during 2025/26 including the Chesterfield-Staveley bypass during its transport committee meeting on January 15.

It will also consider recommendations to approve submissions for its March 2026 board meeting concerning its proposals for transport investment and to confirm its latest funding allocations.