A councillor has launched a petition calling on the Government to reverse its decision to scrap plans for a bypass connecting Chesterfield and Staveley.

Plans for the long-awaited Chesterfield-Staveley bypass have been shelved by the Department for Transport - with the £197 million scheme having been removed from the Major Road Network (MRN) and Large Local Majors (LLM) Programme following a review.

The announcement on October 9 was met with disappointment by MPs, Chesterfield Borough Council and the Mayor of the East Midlands. Councillor Paul Mann, who represents Hollingwood on Staveley Town Council, has started a petition urging the Government to rethink their dismissal of the bypass project.

Cllr Mann said that the collision near Junction 29 of the M1 at Heath on Monday, October 19 - which caused major disruption for residents in the Staveley and Brimington areas while traffic diverted from a closed section of the motorway - demonstrated the need for the construction of a bypass.

He said: “There was one accident on the motorway on Monday and it was gridlocked. Twenty years on, they have not actually reviewed the route they divert traffic down if there’s an accident on the motorway. They have a new junction at Markham Vale, but everything goes straight through Staveley and Brimington. That’s one example of why we need this bypass.

“You now have the new Aldi supermarket at Brimington - I predicted the traffic jams there. They were saying that people will walk there, which is correct, but the supermarket was built on one side of the road, and everyone lives on the other side. There’s always been a zebra crossing there that was hardly used, but now it’s being used every five minutes - so the traffic builds back there now.

“People are well and truly hacked off - no matter where you go in Staveley it is gridlocked.”

The proposed Chesterfield to Staveley bypass scheme, which has been scrapped, had been planned to begin at the Sainsbury's roundabout in Chesterfield.

placeholder image — The proposed Chesterfield to Staveley bypass scheme, which has been scrapped, had been planned to begin at the Sainsbury's roundabout in Chesterfield.

With a number of major housing developments underway around Staveley and Inkersall, Cllr Mann said that the bypass would be crucial in ensuring that infrastructure is improved to cope with the rising number of people travelling through the area.

He said: “You’ve currently got plans for 2,500 new houses in the area - in Inkersall alone there’s three or four active housing developments. But there’s no improvement to any road infrastructure - that’s despite the potential for an extra 10,000 movements every day in the Staveley area.”

The bypass scheme also proposed to unlock the Staveley Growth Corridor, including the former Staveley Works site, for new housing development and employment opportunities. Coun Mann stressed that these plans would have brought huge economic benefits to the area between Chesterfield and Staveley - which will not happen without the introduction of a bypass.

He said: “There was a plan for the Staveley Works corridor, which consisted of a mixture of housing and leisure - there were two marinas and fishing lakes in there too. If you stand on St John’s Road at Middlecroft and look out towards Staveley, there’s land there that could become a Government flagship project. It wouldn’t happen overnight, it would take five or ten years, and would cost hundreds of millions of pounds - but it would boost the economy dramatically.

“Not only do you build a bypass. There’s enough room there for 3,000 or 4,000 houses - I’m not talking about one massive housing estate, but I think the original plan was for little hamlets where you could go down and cut off from the bypass.

“How many builders, tradesmen and apprentices are you going to need to build something of this scale? But all of these things cannot happen without the bypass being put in.

“You could use the rivers to provide green energy for any buildings or houses that are built on the land. The fishing lakes can provide leisure facilities, countryside walks and wildfire habitats - this would all benefit the health and wellbeing of residents in the area.

“You could even build a flood plain, which would provide wildlife and help to relieve flooding. All of these things are possible. I know these things would take money and investment - but none of it can be achieved without putting the bypass in.”

Residents hoped that the proposed bypass would help alleviate traffic problems along the A619 between Chesterfield and Staveley - with Brimington becoming increasingly congested.

Cllr Mann bemoaned the “missed opportunity” to open up investment by the Government, and said that he had written to the Prime Minister - inviting him to speak with residents and councillors to learn why the plans are so important to people living in the area.

He said: “People keep asking why we keep building on green belt and farmland in Staveley when we have all this brownfield land at Staveley Works - it’s because there’s no bypass. If the bypass was done, there’d be a bidding war for that land from developers. If the Government really wants to build houses, there it is.

“Someone needs to come and look at it - I’ve written to Andy Burnham to invite him to visit for an hour and speak about the plans for the bypass with us as Staveley town councillors and residents of the town.

“Once that bypass is in, it would open up absolutely everything - even private sector investment and social housing. If we were within 100 miles of London, it would all be developed now.

“I’ve been a councillor for 20 or 30 years, and I’ve lived in the area all my life - and I know that this would be the best thing to hit anything here. Once it’s through, the possibilities for housing, employment, transport, health, business, the environment - and both the local and national economy - are all there.

“It would cost millions and take a number of years, but the investment in this area won’t come until the road is in - that’s how important it is, and it could solve a lot of problems. It’s a missed opportunity by the Government.”

Cllr Mann added that the petition was currently being checked after receiving a number of early signatures - and that he would be sharing it with residents again when it has been approved.

He said: “I set the petition up on Monday, October 19 - you needed 20 people for it to be checked, which is happening now - we got that within the first hour. They’ve said it might take a couple of weeks to be checked, but once that’s done, I’ll be sharing it across all the various sites - the next step after that will be 10,000.

“I’ve proposed to Staveley Town Council that they also write to the Transport Minister. I’m going to check with Brimington Parish Council to see if we can get a book that people can walk in and sign the petition as well. If needs be, we can take that and knock on the door at either Downing Street or No.10 North.

“There’s been a lot of talk so far - and someone said that we’ll never achieve anything or get them to change their mind. How do we know unless we try?”

A Department for Transport spokesperson added: "The previous government did not fund these projects. Given the challenging financial picture we inherited, we have had to make difficult decisions on a number of road projects and can only progress schemes that are good value for money for taxpayers.”

A Facebook group has also been launched by Ben Stephenson – the owner of Brimington’s Ark Tavern - called ‘Build the Brimington to Staveley bypass.’ He said that, after the disruption in Brimington caused by the crash along the M1 at Junction 29, he also planned to launch a petition calling for a fresh consultation on the proposals for the bypass.

The petition started by Coun Mann can be found at this link, and will be available to sign online once it has been approved: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/785010/moderation-info