Toby Perkins labels resurfacing works along Chatsworth Road an “absolute disgrace” – shortly after council finished controversial cycle lane

Toby Perkins, MP for Chesterfield, has raised concerns about Derbyshire County Council’s (DCC) decision to resurface Chatsworth Road.

The route was subject to extensive works as part of DCC’s project to create a new cycle lane between Chesterfield Royal Hospital and the A619’s junction with Holymoor Road, which were recently completed by the authority.

In a video posted onto his Twitter account, Toby Perkins said: “DCC built this new cycle path, it was hugely controversial, the consultation was an absolute shambles. It took nearly a year for them to build it, we’ve had Chatsworth Road dug up.

“They finally finished and the crossroads at Storrs Road was finally a flat surface, with a cycle path leading from Chatsworth Road off towards Somersall Park.”

At the end of last month, a section of Chatsworth Road at the junction with Storrs Road, where new road markings had been put in place, was dug up again to allow for Road resurfacing works to take place.

Toby said that he would contact DCC, adding that he thought the decision was “just an absolute disgrace.”

Chatsworth Road is towards the western end of the new cycle and walking route, created after DCC was awarded £1.68m of Government funding.

DCC said their aim was to offer a real alternative to taking the car for short journeys across Chesterfield, bringing health benefits to the whole town – including cleaner air. Controversy has, however, surrounded the plans for the cycle lane along Chatsworth Road for several years.

Members of the Derbyshire Green Party supported the proposals – describing them as a step towards a ‘more sustainable and healthier future’ for the town. Civic and resident groups were among those who opposed the idea – raising concerns that it would make Chatsworth Road ‘dangerously narrow for the volume of traffic which it currently carries.’

DCC’s cabinet member for highways assets and transport, Councillor Charlotte Cupit, said that the markings introduced when the cycle lane was constructed were only temporary, allowing it to open before this section of the road was resurfaced.

She said: “It's disappointing to apparently be criticised for road resurfacing works taking place where they were needed.

“These two jobs were aligned. We had planned to resurface the junction of Storrs Road and Chatsworth Road some time ago due to the failing carriageway, so held the job until the cycle lane was complete.

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“The lining put in this area at the junction was only temporary to enable the cycle lane to open safely, before the full resurfacing work was scheduled.”

The permanent closure of Crow Lane last year, at the eastern end of the new route, was also met with uproar.

Crow Lane was first shut in June 2020 during the pandemic, to create a walking and cycling route between Chesterfield Station and the Royal Hospital, but the road reopened again in December 2021.

Residents opposed to the closure highlighted Crow Lane as a ‘vitally important route for local people’, but the road was shut after a public consultation was carried out.