It’s been a few weeks since Derbyshire County Council (DCC) published information about their current plans and consultation for works to Chapelgate/Rushup Edge. You can read about them here.
Since then we’ve been chatting to other user groups and getting views from our members and people who know a thing or two about this issue.
You might wonder why we haven’t yet produced a formal response. We have found it pretty difficult because the information we’ve been given isn’t really enough and many of our members have asked more questions. For example, concerns about the environmental impact of using geotextiles and cement on the local ecosystem. So we’ve asked DCC to supply us with more information. Here are the questions we’ve asked:
- What’s the cost of the work and from what budget this will be sourced?
- Who will conduct the proposed work? A contractor (if so which) or DCC Highways?
- More details about “Sub-base type 1”. This will be used for a large proportion of the route but the plans include no detail of what that material is, how it will appear, how it is in keeping with the environment, nor information that confirms whether it is ecologically sound.
- More details about the material labelled as “geotextile”. What is geotextile, why is its use proposed, what is the lifespan of this material and is it likely to require replacement and/or repair in future?
- Whether there are any plans for maintenance of any problems that arise after work has completed and how much has been budgeted for this over the next 5 years including repairing ruts and clearing drains?
- How long the work will take?
We’ll share the answers as soon as we have them, which may help you shape your individual response. Links to the plans and how to take part in the consultation can be found here, including a great video summary on what work we feel is required. The consultation is open until July 10th.
