We request that Derbyshire County Council Highways Department urgently consider the dangerous nature of the Derby Road / Old Derby Road junction, particularly for pedestrians. With the significant increase in the number of homes and the opening of three retail outlets near this junction, a safe way to visit the shops on foot or by bike is needed.

The Leave campaign was bullishly confident that favourable trade deals could be sealed worldwide for the post-Brexit brave new world.

Reality seems somewhat different. So far, all of eight free trade deals have been agreed. These are with Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Chile, the Seychelles, Mauritius, Madagascar, Zimbabwe and the Faroe Islands. We should be fine for wine, sugar cane, vanilla, Swiss chocolate and woolly jumpers then. And by the way, our exports in all eight cases lag behind imports.

Planners seem to have forgotten all about pedestrians in their approval for the opening of three shops on the edge of an industrial estate in the Derbyshire market town of Ashbourne. Documents from the County Highways department discuss at some length the movement of cars and lorries to and from the mini supermarket and fast food outlets but make no mention of pedestrians which seems strange when the local council talks about sustainable development in their Local Plan which (amongst other things) seeks to reduce the use of private cars.

The National Planning Practice Guidance (2014) means that when a developer applies for planning permission, they have to satisfy the planners that their proposed development will not significantly affect air quality both in the vicinity of the development or further afield, eg by increased traffic congestion.They also need to show that they are not going to expose the new residents of their estate to existing sources of air pollution.To do this they submit impressive looking documents full of computer generated figures and graphics which they believe show that their proposals will cause no harm.

The 'triangle' at the bottom of Buxton Road in Ashbourne Derbyshire is now a little smaller after some very expensive 'surgery' and observation does suggest that fewer large lorries are mounting the pavements in order to squeeze past each other at that corner. BUT they continue to damage kerb-stones and endanger pedestrians at the other pinch points on that road - halfway down the hill outside St Johns Church and at the crest of the hill at the blind junction with Windmill Lane and North Avenue.
Local resident Dorsan Baker was clearing the pavement beside his driveway on Buxton Road when a lorry travelling northbound came around the corner with its nearside wheels well over the pavement, only narrowly missing him. As Dorsan pointed out when this photo was taken some days later "There is simply not enough room for two large lorries to pass each other on this corner of the hill. I was lucky but someone with a buggy might have been hit". Although clearly very dangerous (and illegal), drivers of HGVs frequently have little choice but to 'invade' the pavement on this stretch of road as tyre-marks on the pavement prove. Southbound HGVs cannot continue due to parked vehicles further down the hill and northbound HGVs cannot proceed up the hill since the road is too narrow for two HGVs! The resulting jam would last all day unless the northbound vehicle mounts the pavement. It is also this stop-start traffic that is increasing the levels of atmospheric pollution on what is currently the most polluted road in the Derbyshire Dales and well over the EU limit for acceptable levels of nitrogen oxides, NOx

As Liberal Democrat councillors, we are constantly reading moving letters and emails from residents opposing the huge and highly contentious proposal for 415 more houses off Gritstone Road and Pinewood Road. Some of them have seen their homes and gardens flooded on a regular basis and have been victims of a gridlocked Cavendish Road. .
However, we don't know how the District Council's planners will react and respond to the hundreds of objections to this completely unsustainable and inappropriate plan (with none in favour - see the Council website: ref 18/01242/EIA) .

Observing the Brexit saga unfolding in Parliament, you might have thought that it seems almost like a pantomime. Here is an outline of the plot…

The Country has voted to Take Back Control and become a Brexit Island. The Blue Queen has tried to implement the Country's decision. But many of the Blue Princes and Princesses are unhappy with the Blue Queen's plan and are in open revolt against her, because they say we would not be a True Island. The problem is that everyone somehow forgot that if the Country has a Land Border, it cannot be an Island. So how can you have a Land Border with no Border Controls, while at the same time Taking Back Control? The Blue Princes expect the Blue Queen to come up with a solution, but what is their Plan? After over two years of deep thought, they have no Plan. Meanwhile the patience of Blue supporters wears thin, especially because many of the Blue Princes like Davis, Boris and Moggis are devoting most of their energies to plotting to depose the Blue Queen and replace her.

A few months ago an estate agent, extolling the virtues of Ashbourne, Derbyshire as a place to live, praised the air quality of the town. It is instructive to reflect on how they might have decided that Ashbourne air is 'good to breathe'.

It seems that all sources of information that purport to tell you about air quality rely on figures supplied to DEFRA (headed up by Mr Gove). The collection of such data in the Derbyshire Dales is the responsibility of the local authority - Derbyshire Dales District Council.

This derelict eyesore, vandalised and partially burnt out was once a hospital in the attractive market town of Ashbourne in Derbyshire. Known then as the Ashbourne Victoria Memorial Cottage Hospital, it opened its doors in 1897 and was an imposing building on Buxton Rd., Ashbourne, next to St John's church. An Ashbourne landmark, there were even postcards issued as illustrated here; After closing in 1962 it was sold and eventually ended up in the hands of a landlord who let it out as flats, calling it Victoria Court Flats. Unfortunately this landlord, like many others, has failed to maintain the property, instead allowing it to become unfit to live in. Some have ventured inside to show just how grim it has become - see here for photos of the inside.

Town Cllr Dave Elsworth has spent the past two years or more trying to convince planners and highway engineers that the new housing developments off Chesterfield Road, especially the huge Gritstone / Pinewood Road site will inevitably create gridlocked local roads, including roads which converge on Crown Square, not to mention the public health impacts from air pollution.