Better Transport

DerbyHEART was formed to fight the 'Connecting Derby' road scheme. The scheme would involve building new roads through a socially deprived residential area and also through and adjacent to the historic Strutts Park Conservation area, destroying the settings of some of Derby's most historic buildings.

The scheme has been promoted as a public transport scheme despite the fact that 90% of the benefits go to private transport users. It would increase road traffic by 5%.

The project has been subject to massive increases in costs, and to meet the huge funding gap the local Council has robbed the following sources: £2m allocated for a new bus station, £1m that was for a park and ride scheme, and £3.5m that was for local transport initiatives that could lead to modal shift. £40m is being spent to achieve very little that meets the needs of the 21st century and the threat of global warming.

In short it is an expensive, old-fashioned idea that should be replaced by a scheme that supports public transport and encourages real modal shift away from private transport.

We meet every Tuesday from around 7:30pm at The Flower Pot Public House, King Street, Derby.

The public inquiry into the Mottram-Tintwistle Bypass through the Peak District National Park has been adjourned indefinitely. Ask your MP to demand that the inquiry be abandoned and alternatives to this disastrous road investigated.

The proposed Mottram-Tintwistle Bypass would bypass the villages of Mottram, Tintwistle and Hollingworth in Cheshire and Derbyshire, with a 5.6km road that would link the M67 to the A628 Woodhead Pass.

When the scheme entered the Targeted Programme of Improvements in 2001, the cost was estimated at £90 million. This has now risen to an estimated £223 to £315 million.

The last 1.2km of the proposed bypass would be within the Peak District National Park and decimate a quarry site used by climbers, walkers, and locals alike. A local nature reserve, Swallow's Wood, would be damaged by a 65ft bridge and earth work, carrying three lanes of traffic over what was once a beautiful, quiet wildlife site.

The scheme would lead to increases in traffic on many local roads, including the A628 through the National Park, where traffic levels would increase by 40%. Airborne pollutants and climate changing gases are forecast to increase, with an estimated 19,000 tonnes per year of CO2 generated as a result of the scheme.

Campaigners are calling for rail-freight alternatives and a weight restriction combined with improved public transport measures to restrict the movement of HGVs through the National Park and reduce congestion caused by local commuter traffic.

The group holds regular meetings in the Mottram / Glossop area: email for more details.

The major redevelopment of Derby city centre including its new bus station continues and we will maintain our input through the transport steering group and public consultations.

We are involved with consultations on the proposed extensions and alterations to Derby's ring roads and their junctions. We expect consultations and a public inquiry on the widening and junction changes proposed for the M1. We are also involved in train timetable consultations.

For the many planning and transport issues that arise we will continue to work with many other local organisations, including East Midlands Transport Activists Roundtable, Travel Watch East Midlands, East Midlands Airport Transport Forum, the rural transport partnerships and community rail partnerships.

We hold four evening meetings a year in Derby, on a Wednesday or Thursday, and three Saturday morning meetings in other Derbyshire towns.

National Grid plans to run cables through the Woodhead Tunnel, a disused rail tunnel, which would mean it couldn't be reopened for freight and passenger trains between Sheffield and Manchester.

We are a coalition of concerned transport and climate change activists. We're calling for National Grid to find an alternative location to site their electricity cables and campaigning to re-open the Woodhead rail route.

TravelWatch East Midlands is an alliance of groups representing consumer interest across all modes of public transport. We aim to represent the interests and concerns of passengers and to assist local and regional authorities' work towards an integrated and seamless public transport network for the East Midlands region.

TravelWatch East Midlands' mission is to champion public transport so that it becomes:

• Accessible to everyone – including the mobility impaired
• Affordable and socially inclusive
• Available when and where needed
• Attractive – with high-quality services and reliable information

By bringing together for the first time within a single body representative groups of bus, rail, light rail, air and other passengers, TravelWatch East Midlands offers passengers a new opportunity for strong consumer representation and offers regional policymakers a route to engage with transport consumers.

The group meets two or three times a year at venues around the region.