Unfortunately the county council seem to be making a real mess of their Chesterfield East to West Cycling and Walking Route – the latest debacle is the failure to reopen Crow Lane.
Whether you agree with the permanent closure of Crow Lane or not, the fact is that the county council’s powers to close it ended on 1 December 2021 and it should have been reopened. A more permanent closure proposal will then be subject to a statutory notice and consultation period. During this period the lane has to be opened.
The civic society contacted the county council, giving them until close of business on 10 December to reopen the highway. The highway has not been reopened so we have now complained to the Secretary of State and the Local Government Ombudsman.
We hope that you will agree with us that the county council must operate within the law.
Our chairman’s original communication to the county council over the matter can be downloaded below.
There’s also an article in the Derbyshire Times on the failure of the county council to reopen the road.
As the road wasn’t opened by the close of business on 10 December our chairman has written to the county council, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and to Chris Heaton-Harris MP, Minister of State at the Department for Transport. You can download the letters below.
This post was updated on 12 December 2021, adding the letters sent by the civic society following failure by the county council to reopen Crow Lane, by close of business on 10 December 2021. The post text was also amended to reflect this.
2 responses to “Crow Lane Re-opening Debacle”
Crow lane should stay open as it is a well used road and an alternative route for very busy times on the main road if there is an accident it is a very long diversion if you close crow lane
Thanks for contacting us. We hope that you will take the opportunity to make your views known to the county council.