I wanted to take this opportunity to update constituents on my efforts to help deliver the long-awaited, and much needed, Ashbourne Relief Road – often referred to as “the By-pass”. Those of you who follow my activities in Parliament will know that this is a matter I have continued to promote both publicly in the House of Commons’ chamber and privately in meetings with ministerial colleagues on many occasions. My most recent meeting on this subject happened on the 30th of September when I met with Derbyshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Infrastructure and Environment Councillor Carolyn Renwick and Transport Strategy Manager Jim Seymour.
I am pleased that Derbyshire County Council have made progress with their investigations and surveys of the proposed location of the relief road, although some environmental surveys do still need to be completed. By law, infrastructure projects of this nature must demonstrate their ability to provide benefits to surrounding biodiversity and it is important that the Council is thorough in its assessments to best ensure a successful planning application. I stressed the importance to Councillor Renwick that there should be no avoidable delays to the project as constituents want to see a formal planning application as soon as is possible.
The Council are currently in the process of contacting landowners for the area surrounding the route of the proposed road if access is required for land surveys and investigations. Residents will also have a further opportunity to raise concerns and queries at public consultation which will happen before any planning application is submitted. As constituents may already be aware, the current working proposals are for a single carriageway with separate provision for pedestrians and cyclists and will join the A515 Buxton Road close to Sandybrook Hall.
Finally, I would like to restate my commitment to constituents to continuing to bring this project to the attention of ministerial colleagues and encouraging its swift progress at the local government level. It is firmly my belief that the relief road is in lockstep with the Government’s Levelling Up agenda and deserves the Department for Transport’s support. Moreover, the fact that a recent study found that up to 12,000 vehicles were travelling through the narrow town centre each day, with almost half using it as a through-road and 10% of the traffic being comprised of HGVs, is clear evidence in my mind that the road needs to be a clear strategic priority for Derbyshire County Council.
I will keep constituents up to date with my future meetings and hope to speak again soon with both Council, to learn of their progress, and a Minister in the Department for Transport to explore specific ways the project may be supported. To quote my colleague the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Nadhim Zahawi last weekend: delay is our biggest enemy – and I will endeavour to ensure the Ashbourne Relief Road does not suffer from this foe.
