Councils at odds over Matlock traffic plan

Published in Matlock Mercury on Thu 10th Jul 2008

PLANS to change Crown Square into a traffic light junction could 'destroy the town' if they get the go ahead, it has been claimed.

Residents and councillors joined forces at a Matlock Town Council meeting to express their objections to the proposals, which would see the island removed and all three junctions - Bank Road, Causeway Lane and Bakewell Road - controlled by traffic lights.

Councillors have called for an urgent meeting with county and district councillors and Sainsbury's, who are paying for the scheme, to discuss concerns.

Cllr Steve Flitter said: "Crown Square is a feature and a feature that must stay. I want to see something practical, something that will work and I'm not convinced this will. I just think it will destroy the town."

Cllr Martin Burfoot added: "It is farcical that they should be proposing this sort of feature in a conservation area. We were promised the pedestrianisation of the bridge."

Matlock Civic Association Secretary Ken Parker called for a shared space scheme to be considered and added things had moved on since 1999 when the plans were approved.

Helen Cunningham, from the Matlock Partnership said: "I will not be taking my two preschool children in to Crown Square if the pavements are narrower and the traffic even more clogged up with exhaust fumes pumping out. We have enough new tarmac in the town centre."

The Partnership is to discuss the proposals at a meeting tomorrow at 7pm in the Imperial Rooms.

But a Derbyshire County Council spokesman said: "We expect the changes to improve the flow of traffic in the area and make it easier for pedestrians to get around the square by providing one set of crossing points instead of the existing four."