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www.SortOutStarkholmesTraffic.co.uk
STARKHOLMES TRAFFIC ACTION GROUP
THE WALK. On the morning of Friday 26 Feb, in company with a numnber of STAG members,
and, for part of the way, neighbourhood PC Jon Bewley, Chris Jackson (deputy leader of Derbyshire County Council)
and Peter Leigh (from DCC Highways Dept) walked the entire length from Matlock Green to Willersley
to see for themselves the problems as identified in the recommendations document prepared by STAG.
They have agreed to prepare plans for consultation with the residents of Starkholmes and Willersley,
and have said that these will be made available for us to view by Easter. Because they will
largely be in the form of A1 size plans, it will not be possible for them to send them to us, but we
are hoping to arrange a place, dates and times for viewing them within Starkholmes
(i.e. without having to go to Matlock Town Hall or the county offices). We shall also provide aa summary on
this website when we have the details. Please watch this space!
Matlock Mercury article - click here
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Starkholmes Traffic Action Group (STAG) is a community action group set up to campaign for road safety action
on the whole length of Starkholmes Road, Church Street, and Willersley Lane from Matlock Green to Cromford.
The increasing volume and speed of traffic using this road since the sainsbury's development is of major concern to local residents.
The aim of STAG is to campaign for permanent traffic calming measures which will reduce the number and speed of vehicles using Starkholmes as a 'rat-run'.
A first public meeting held at St Giles School, Starkholmes, on Wednesday 25th November
attracted massive support from residents: the hall was packed, with an estimated 250 residents attending,
to listen to, and to question, councillors and council officials, and members of Derbyshire Constabulary representing the Safer Neighbourhood team.
Click here to read the press release.
We intend that, in addition to giving you information on the progress of the campaign, and inviuting participation at further meetings,
this web site will also build into an information resource on traffic matters affecting Starkholmes and adjacent areas of Matlock.
We shall progressivaly add new pages with information and news - please check the menu on the left!
Our own road survey and recommendations.
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CROWN SQUARE
You may think this is nothing to do with us here in Starkholmes -
but any changes that reduce the traffic
in Crown Square will automatically increase the traffic in Starkholmes.
When the bridge was made one-way,
southbound only, the increase in northbound traffic through Starkholmes was
immediate and obvious:
see the statistics.
The DDDC Planning Committee met on Tuesday 2nd Feb.
There was some discussion, with a number of very important points being raised.
Not least was the confirmation that on either the previous or the current proposal
the reduction in carriageway space would inevitably lead to much more congestion
in Matlock town centre - just as we have been pointing out. Nevertheless, the
councillors on the committee, voted unanimously in their wisdom in favour of the
application as modified according to the wishes of the Matlock Civic Association.
Paul Bradley and Steve Henley of STAG made verbal representations at the planning meeting.
However, the committee were instructed that they were "not allowed" to take into consideration
either the impact on Starkholmes or the highways layout questions. So much for "joined-up government".
Councillor Barker pointed out that the County Council were considering
a 20mph speed limit for the whole of central Matlock (this was news to us - though had been discussed the day before at the Town Council), but not including Starkholmes, and
that this would have an inevitable impact on Starkholmes traffic. Nevertheless he
voted with all the other councillors in favour of the application and without any imposed
conditions.
STAG remains opposed to the Crown Square development as now passed by the committee
on the grounds of traffic congestion and impact on routes outside Matlock town centre
(such as Starkholmes).
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