Long-awaited Staveley Bypass scheme hit by fresh delays

MPs and councillors from across the political spectrum say the Staveley bypass project will reduce traffic on the busy A619 from Chesterfield to Brimington and Staveley, cut journey times on other roads and open up regeneration opportunities.

The scheme was awarded £93m from the Government last year but was first raised as an idea 94 years ago.

Derbyshire County Council said in August it would submit a business case to the Government in the autumn – but this has now been put back into 2022.

A council spokesperson said this week: “We are now due to submit the business case to the Government by the end of March 2022.

"The guidance from Government changed and following a report to the council’s cabinet earlier this week we also now want to consult on the detailed plans for the route which we expect to start in January.

"We will still need to carry out a formal consultation before we submit the planning application.”

Current plans would see the road built through part of the former Staveley Works brownfield site.

It would run north from the existing ‘Sainsbury’s’ roundabout on the A619, past Bluebank Pools and then to the east through the Staveley Works area to join the roundabout at Hall Lane where this meets the A6192.

Chesterfield’s Labour MP Toby Perkins and the Labour leader of Chesterfield Borough Council, Coun Tricia Gilby, have both previously welcomed the proposal.

Conservative MP for North East Derbyshire, Lee Rowley, said the project was now moving forward in a ‘meaningful’ way.

“It’s really great to start seeing some of the detailed proposals come together for Staveley bypass, enabled by recent Government funding and allowing us to, for the first time in decades, take a meaningful step forward in trying to make this a reality,” Mr Rowley said.

“I’ve been meeting with Derbyshire County Council regularly in recent months to track progress before we submit back to the Government in early next year – just getting the funding to do this was a huge step forward after decades of slow progress, and we’re now in a place where we should be able to put forward a really strong proposal to Government next year.”

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