On Wednesday 9 December Sarah Dines MP held a virtual meeting with Baroness Vere of Norbiton the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport, to discuss the vital need for the Bypass in Ashbourne.
Sarah Dines MP said, ‘Since being elected a year ago, I have been working hard to raise the need for a bypass in Ashbourne. I have raised this multiple times with Ministers, The Chancellor and directly with the Prime Minister on multiple occasions. I have written to Ministers over this last year and I was delighted that Baroness Vere, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport met me to discuss the urgent need for the Ashbourne Bypass. Baroness Vere said she welcomes all applications for bypasses and all are considered.
She did make it clear that all essential ground work needs to take place first, so I am delighted that the County Council are currently conducting their brilliant work on consulting residents. Baroness Vere and I had a thorough discussion on all the stages of any application and I will be working closely with the County and District Council with regards to preparing a thorough and realistic business plan going forward. Since being elected I have had many emails and letters on this issue from constituents and I am very impressed with the engagement from the community on this issue. I am committed to supporting this going forward and I am optimistic that at last we will get a bypass in Ashbourne.
It is my opinion that a bypass is needed for vehicle users and pedestrians alike in Ashbourne. Most Fridays I find myself stuck in terrible traffic in Ashbourne, with quarry vehicles struggling to make it through the narrow roads. For residents of Ashbourne this is an everyday occurrence. We need the quarries. They are vital not only to the local economy, but the minerals they produce are vital to the whole country, however the residents of Ashbourne deserve safe roads, with minimised pollution.
An independent consultation in 2017 found that there were up to 12,000 vehicles using main routes through the town each day, that almost half (46%) of traffic using the A515 was through traffic – with somewhere other than Ashbourne as its end destination and a £1.5 million estimate placed on the cost of traffic delays in the town per year. A bypass is a common-sense and much needed solution to these problems.
I know that there is talk about which of the proposed routes is the best option and many constituents will have differing views on this. I am looking forward to seeing the results of the consultation. Whatever the route, one thing that is very clear to me, the bypass in Ashbourne must happen.’
