Call for traffic solution as £21m bypass paused

Plans for a bypass to cut traffic through Ashbourne have been paused

Plans to create a £21m bypass around Ashbourne have been put on hold.

Ground studies and traffic reports had been completed for the project, but it was confirmed at a Derbyshire County Council meeting last week it had been postponed due to uncertainty over funding.

The proposed route was to stretch around the west of the town, to the north from the A52, close to the town's recycling centre, and end near Callow Top Country Park.

During a meeting of the Reform-led authority's scrutiny committee, it was stated the development had been "paused" by the previous Conservative administration, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Tim Baker, who works in the Ashbourne Historical Centre, thinks the plans for a bypass are a good idea

Tim Baker, who works at the Ashbourne Historical Centre in the market place, said he often gets complaints in the summer about HGVs travelling through the town, adding: "I do think personally that a bypass would be a good idea."

"If you do go to a place and you find a negative about that place, you tie a knot in your handkerchief and remember that," he added.

However, Tom Ertman, who runs a deli called Cheddar Gorge in Dig Street, does not think a bypass is the answer.

He raised concerns that if traffic was taken out of the town centre it could cut footfall and passing trade for businesses.

He said that a weight limit to stop lorries would be more effective because cars would still drive through the town.

Tom Ertman would rather see a weight limit imposed in the town than have a bypass

Rather than push ahead with the bypass, councillors at the meeting prioritised plans for a bypass in Glapwell, near Chesterfield.

At the meeting, Conservative county councillor for Ashbourne South, Steve Bull, said: "We got very close in Ashbourne.

"If it wasn't for Storm Babet and bad weather conditions it would probably be in the planning process.

"It has now sort of disappeared. Despite the Levelling Up funds (£21.4m spent on Ashbourne from government grants), the town is still being shaken to pieces by HGVs."

Reform UK councillor for Hardwick, David Harvey, added: "The people of Blackbrook have been talking about a bypass since 1937, and here we are in 2025 and traffic has become far worse. It is something I feel very passionate about."

Chris Henning, the authority's executive director of place (which includes highways), said: "We took the Ashbourne relief road through feasibility, through to designs, and started the pre-application process, such as talking to the Environment Agency.

"Due to the financial challenges which are affecting local authorities, the last administration took the decision that we couldn't spend more on that without a route through, and the lack of understanding of whether there was going to be more funding.

"We did have talks with EMCCA (East Midlands Combined County Authority) about that, but their pot of funding is not infinite and is about choices, and there are choices to be made at a strategic level, such as do we fund roads which will provide relief, or roads which will provide access to jobs, housing and investment opportunities? That is a decision for them.

"There are absolutely choices to be made, including Ashbourne and Glapwell.

"With Ashbourne we had to make the decision in the last administration to pause, but that is not to say it cannot come back as funding becomes available."