transport

Data shows a surge of interest from commuters eyeing up homes in Chesterfield

Interest in homes in and around Chesterfield has seen a significant rise, with data showing a jump in the number of commuters looking to relocate to the town.

New data from the UK’s biggest property website Rightmove reveals that the return to the office for many workers has led to a jump in buyer searches for commuter stations, with searches for Chesterfield going up by 30% between June 2021 and August 2021.

The analysis compares buyer searches for stations across Great Britain in June 2021 with August 2021, to measure the impact of the gradual return to the office, which has been encouraged by the government since July.

Peter Swallow, Chair of Destination Chesterfield, said: “The recent Right Move data is pleasing but not surprising. We have long known and appreciated the town’s connectivity. It is this which has been fundamental in the borough attracting more than £1 billion worth of construction projects which are currently underway.

“Chesterfield’s mainline rail station serves the town well. As Sheffield house prices have increased to a level which challenges affordability, the market in Chesterfield, being just 10 miles away by train from the UK’s fourth largest city, is benefitting.

“Having this station puts London St Pancras just 1hr and 50 mins away, and Nottingham just 40 minutes away which is ideal for commuters. The reality of this is you can get to central London by rail from Chesterfield in the same amount of time it takes someone to commute from 30 miles away!

“Demand for housing is strong, particularly close to the railway station. At Avant Homes Waterside Quarter development at Chesterfield Waterside, buyers are attracted by the fact they don’t need a car to live there as the train station is on their doorstep. This benefits everyone, not least Chesterfield Borough Council’s drive to become carbon neutral.

“It is exciting to see Chesterfield Borough Council investing significantly in the future of the railway station. The new station master plan, the first such scheme since 1870, will transform not merely the approach to the station but the whole of the north-eastern edge of the town centre, helping the town attract more residents and investment.”

Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s Director of Property Data comments: “More people are starting to return to the office for at least a few days a week, and so quick routes into major cities are rising up the priority list again.

“While the demand to relocate or search for more space has by no means gone away, the numbers suggest that this will need to be balanced with easy transport access on office days, which has understandably been lower on the agenda for many over the last eighteen months.”

Champions Event

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Local leaders shine spotlight on sustainable transport for English Tourism Week

Robert Largan, Member of Parliament for High Peak, has joined Marketing Peak District & Derbyshire (MPDD) together with local leaders to shine a spotlight on sustainable transport for English Tourism Week (22-31 May 2021).

Mr Largan MP joined Jo Dilley, Managing Director of MPDD; Andrew McCloy, Chair of the Peak District National Park Authority; John Young, Commercial Director of Stagecoach; Sir Richard FitzHerbert, Chair of MPDD; and John Harrison of Speedwell Cavern to highlight the Peak District’s new Hope Valley Explorer bus service – and to promote green travel across the county.

Following a successful pilot in 2019, the Stagecoach-operated bus will run from 23 July to 3 October 2021, offering a hop on hop off service in the Hope Valley. Visitors are encouraged to leave the car behind, take the train from Sheffield or Manchester and join the Hope Valley Explorer at Hope or Bamford – or hop aboard direct from Chesterfield or Dronfield.

Attractions on route include the Peak District’s dramatic Upper Derwent Valley and the fascinating cave networks at Castleton, providing a great chance for visitors to travel by public transport whilst supporting the recovery of local businesses.

In a bid to further boost car-free visits, a series of extended bus services has been announced by Derbyshire County Council for summer 2021, including new hourly Sunday services on routes connecting Derby and Ashbourne; Matlock and Chatsworth; Sheffield, Castleton and Buxton; and Chesterfield and Bakewell. Some of the services also connect with trains at Buxton, Chesterfield and Matlock stations.

The news follows the launch of Marketing Peak District & Derbyshire’s 5-year Tourism Rescue & Rebuilding Plan, which highlights the destination’s aims to lead the way in sustainable tourism, active travel and transport connectivity.

Led by VisitEngland, the annual English Tourism Week campaign – which this year uses the slogan ‘Here for Tourism’ – highlights the importance and vast contribution the sector makes to the UK economy. In 2019, tourism was worth £2.5 billion to the Peak District & Derbyshire economy, supporting 32,000 local jobs.

Details of the Hope Valley Explorer Bus and public transport across Derbyshire can be found at: visitpeakdistrict.com/getting-here.

Robert Largan, MP for High Peak, said: “Tourism and hospitality are absolutely vital to our local economy in the Peak District and it’s fantastic to see so many great public transport options available to visitors this summer.

“English Tourism Week is an ideal time to recognise not just the value of the tourism sector, but also the key role it can play in levelling up the UK’s economy, and sustainable tourism will play a huge role in the industry’s future success.”

Jo Dilley, Managing Director of Marketing Peak District & Derbyshire said: “English Tourism Week is a fantastic time to shine a light on sustainable tourism and the role it can play, not just in the sector’s recovery, but in improving public transport links for all those who live, work and visit here.

“Assets like the Hope Valley Explorer offer a great way to enjoy green travel in the Peak District & Derbyshire, whilst supporting the recovery of local businesses, and when used alongside the area’s many fantastic rail links can make for an enjoyable and hassle-free day out.

“Our 5-year Tourism Rescue & Rebuilding Plan maps out the new long-term vision for the sector and sustainable transport will be a key driver of recovery and growth. We’re encouraging visitors to explore as many car-free options as possible this summer and to enjoy a great, green day out in the Peak District & Derbyshire.”

Councillor Barry Lewis, Leader of Derbyshire County Council said: “I’m delighted that we are able to provide more bus services into the Peak District on Sundays for the coming summer season. These services will benefit local people and will also link with rail services at Chesterfield, Buxton and Matlock for those coming from outside the county.

“By increasing the services on offer we hope that those without a car can visit the countryside more easily, and that more people will decide to take the bus rather than drive. Having increased services also opens up the possibilities of walkers being able to use them to link up with their walks, opening up additional possibilities for local people and those who come from further afield. Derbyshire is now well and truly open for business.”

Andrew McCloy, Chair of the Peak District National Park Authority said: “We’re delighted to be working again with operators Stagecoach during summer 2021 to bring the Hope Valley Explorer service back to some of most scenic parts of the National Park. It can drop you at the start of a walk, take you to the heart of a picturesque village, or you can simply stay on for a relaxed tour of the valley in the company of a knowledgeable and friendly driver and the fascinating on-board commentary.

“More than anything, you will be helping to lessen the impact of cars on this sensitive location, reducing congestion and pollution and helping us develop more sustainable travel choices for everyone to enjoy.”

“We all need to think about the long-term effect of how we get to and around the National Park and the impact on local communities, our health and fitness, and ultimately the climate. The Hope Valley Explorer shows that there is an alternative to the car that is every bit as attractive and accessible.”

Phil Medlicott, Managing Director, Stagecoach Yorkshire said: “We are delighted to support the return of the Hope Valley Explorer service, working in partnership with the Peak District National Park, which opens up a beautiful part of the countryside for people to enjoy in a sustainable way.

“This service is a great example of partnership working to encourage people onto public transport through connecting with local rail journeys. As the country moves forward and people look to take short breaks or adventures closer to home this year, it’s important that buses play a key role in supporting this and moving towards a greener and cleaner future for travel.”

Sir Richard FitzHerbert, Chair of Marketing Peak District & Derbyshire said: “The Peak District & Derbyshire has so much to offer visitors and these great public transport services provide even more reasons to explore this summer – without the need for a car.

“From stately homes such as Chatsworth and Haddon to the caves of Speedwell Cavern and Treak Cliff near the wonderful village of Castleton, so many areas are easily accessible by public transport. After the past year, it has never more important to visit and support local businesses and we look forward to welcoming visitors back for a bumper season.”

Throughout English Tourism Week, Marketing Peak District & Derbyshire is also celebrating other methods of green travel with a dedicated Cycle Week across its social and digital channels.

Marketing Peak District & Derbyshire’s Rescue & Rebuilding Plan can be found at: visitpeakdistrict.com/industry/about-us/rescue-and-rebuilding-plan

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Free Chesterfield cancer treatment transport service launched

A new transport service has been launched to provide people from Chesterfield with free, safe travel to Sheffield hospitals for cancer treatment.

The service has been launched by regional charity Weston Park Cancer Charity and will operate twice daily from Monday to Friday, between The University of Derby’s St Helena Campus in Chesterfield and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals.

The Weston Park Cancer Charity Transport Service could save hundreds of pounds in travel costs each week for people in Chesterfield and the surrounding areas who are living with cancer.

Around 20 per cent of patients at Weston Park Cancer Centre – one of the four hospitals to which the transport service will provide free travel – are from Chesterfield, the equivalent of more than 3,000 patients at any one time and more than 1,300 each year.

The service will follow strict safety measures to keep volunteer drivers and passengers safe at all times. Drivers will all be tested for Covid-19 twice weekly, with buses cleaned thoroughly before every journey.

The launch of the new Transport Service follows Weston Park Cancer Charity’s takeover of Chesterfield cancer charity, Nenna Kind, in 2020. It marks a ’major step forward’ for Weston Park Cancer Charity in its ‘commitment to care in every sense’ for cancer patients and their families in Chesterfield.

Emma Clarke, director of services and grant-giving at Weston Park Cancer Charity said: “Our Transport Service will ensure that people facing cancer will not also have to worry about accessing treatment at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals – and will be able to focus on what’s important.

“A cancer diagnosis is a difficult thing for anyone to hear. But imagine that the recommended treatment is miles away from your home and you have no ability to make that journey. We don’t want anyone to ever have to face the decision to decline treatment because travel to and from their appointments is the barrier.

“The backing of our wonderful supporters enables us to fund this service in its entirety, meaning it’s free of charge for patients.

“It marks a major step forward for us as we look to build on Nenna Kind’s legacy, and to continue our commitment to care in every sense for cancer patients and their families in Chesterfield and the surrounding areas.”

Sheree Hall, Macmillan lead cancer nurse at Chesterfield Royal Hospital, said: “There is enough stress as there is with cancer – going through diagnosis and treatment is one thing, but somebody shouldn’t have to worry about how to get to their treatment in the first place.

“It may appear strange that somebody simply wouldn’t have treatment just because of transport issues, but that does happen. During lockdown, we’ve had a few cases in which individuals have had to contact us because they have no other means of getting to their appointment and simply no money to pay for taxis – and due to Covid-19 there wasn’t even the facility to travel how they might have done before.

“The new Transport Service means a lot and for some people it can be the difference between whether they could have their treatment or not.”

Alison Gibson, community development worker at Community Chesterfield who helped facilitate the scheme, said: “At Community Chesterfield we pride ourselves on connecting the region’s voluntary, community and charitable sectors both with the University of Derby and with one another, opening up opportunities for them to work together to create positive impact in the area.

“After a discussion with one of Weston Park Cancer Charity’s volunteers about the benefits that a transport service of this nature would bring, we are absolutely delighted to help facilitate this vital scheme from our offices at the St Helena Campus. It will without doubt be a huge help to residents of Chesterfield who need to travel to Weston Park to undergo cancer treatment and will hopefully go some way to making their lives during an incredibly challenging time that bit easier.”

Dr Paula Holt MBE, Pro Vice-Chancellor Dean of the College of Health, Psychology and Social Care at the University of Derby, said: “We are delighted to be able to support Weston Park Cancer Charity and, in particular, residents of the Chesterfield area who depend upon this vital service.

“This once again demonstrates the value of our partnership with CommUNIty Chesterfield, who have connected us with the hospital charity.

“The University of Derby is proud to engage with the voluntary sector in the town to deliver projects and services which can make such an important and positive difference to people’s lives.

“In this instance, being able to utilise the current capacity at the St Helena Campus provides a solution to the needs of patients who are travelling to Sheffield to receive treatment.”

For more information or for bookings, call Weston Park Cancer Charity’s helpline 0114 553 3330 (option two) or email transport@wpcancercharity.org.uk.

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£46 million investment in Derbyshire’s roads and pavements agreed

Derbyshire County Council’s Cabinet has agreed work totalling over £46 million to be carried out on the county’s roads and pavements over the next year.

A huge investment in the county’s roads and pavements has been agreed at a meeting of the authority’s cabinet on Thursday, 11th March.

The council also announced a further £40 million for each of the following two years.

Councillor Simon Spencer, Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Infrastructure, said: “The money we will invest over the next 3 years will see a step change in how we tackle improvements on our highways network.

“Next year alone we will surface dress 260 roads and resurface 78 roads and 65 pavements. 84 miles of roads will be surface dressed, and 11.5 miles will be resurfaced.

“We’re also going to make improvements to drains and spend money on other measures to prevent flooding.

“To tackle accidents on the roads we’ve 46 safety schemes which aim to reduce the numbers of people killed or seriously injured in accidents. Improvements will also be made to the cycle network.

“Then for the following two years we will spend around £40m each year in our bid to keep Derbyshire moving.

”The work will be carried out by our own team, and by specialist contractors which we will bring in to help us meet this ambitious programme.”

The work will be carried out by the council’s own employees, and a range of specialist contractors. To help manage the extensive scheme of work a small team of employees will be recruited shortly.

The table below shows how the funding is set to be distributed over the next year:

Roads £16.154 million
Pavements £3.152 million
Drainage and flood management £6.634 million
Bridges, structures, retaining walls and highway boundary structures £3.81 million
Signs, lines and signals £3.218 million
Street lighting £2.401 million
Rights of way £1.698 million
Cycle routes £0.677 million
Greenways £0.185 million
Traffic management £0.48 million
Key Cycle Network investment £0.57 million
Local cycling and walking investment £0.299 million
Public transport £1.6 million
Road safety £1.992 million
Preparation and implementation of major highway projects £0.25 million
Highways Maintenance Challenge Fund and Active Travel Fund £3.684 million
Total 2021 to 2022 programme £46.803 million

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Council leaders urge Government to back HS2 Eastern Leg in response to NIC report

Chesterfield Borough Council has released a response to the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC)’s recently published report that has recommended scaling back HS2’s Eastern Leg in favour of regional rail link development.

Don’t Cut Here! A Case study on Why the economies of Chesterfield and Sheffield need HS2 in full has been released today (Wednesday 22 December 2020), urging the Government to deliver on its promise of developing HS2’s Eastern Leg to “regenerate, level up and make a real difference to people and communities” in Chesterfield and Derbyshire.

The case study has been released by Chesterfield Borough Council, in conjunction with Connecting Britain to highlight what it says are HS2 East’s “enormous opportunities for the UK economy that will drive growth, but which are currently at risk of being thwarted.”
It follows the NIC’s Rail Needs Assessment for the North and Midlands, which was published in December and included an option to leave out most of Line 2b East until 2050 and beyond, something which local authorities claim would have a “devastating” economic impact on the region.

Chesterfield Borough Council has referenced the Staveley Corridor regeneration, which is centred around a new HS2 Staveley Infrastructure Maintenance Depot (IMD) and promises a huge scope of opportunity for the area, with creation of jobs, infrastructure, housing and inward investment.

Opportunities for growth and regeneration include the £125m reopening of the Barrow Hill Line, a £100m link road, the development of 3,500 new homes and the creation of 2,200 new jobs around the area. But the IMD will only be required if HS2 East is delivered in full by 2040.

The document also covers the lasting legacy of HS2 in the eastern region, which would see one million people better connected by the line, 10,000s of cars taken off the roads and 1,000s of bi-modal trains replaced, supporting the government’s decarbonisation targets.

Much of HS2 East’s proposals are focused around masterplans which are already in place for the development of Chesterfield and Sheffield Stations, incorporating pedestrian friendly access and local public transport links.

Responding to the publication of the report last week, Councillor Tricia Gilby, Chesterfield Borough Council Leader, said she was ‘hugely disappointed’ that of the options presented the National Infrastructure Commission does not recommend delivery of the eastern leg of HS2 in full.

“This directly conflicts with the Government’s pledge to levelling up in areas like ours. It also seriously undermines local plans for growth in the North and the Midlands,” Cllr Gilby added.

Now Councillor Gilby joins other regional leaders in pushing forward the case for the Government to commit to the HS2 Eastern Leg in full – to realise the ‘once in a generation’ opportunity to shape the region’s future, and avoid land already earmarked for related development being left in limbo for years.

“After decades of underinvestment in strategic rail infrastructure, delivering HS2 is a once in a generation chance to transform connectivity, attract investment, create new jobs, build new homes, boost skills and opportunity and level-up communities across the North, Midlands and beyond. This is even more crucial to our economic future in optimising recovery from the pandemic, which has hit the North and Midlands hard.

“For Chesterfield, the failure to deliver the Eastern Leg in full means facing the prospect of reduced connectivity for our communities, as well as damaging the momentum we have built up around our ambitious comprehensive plans for both Staveley and the area around Chesterfield Station.

“In the Staveley area alone, planned growth worth at least £1bn has been catalysed by the planned HS2 maintenance depot. Taking this away would be a huge blow for an area that has had its hopes raised on the back of HS2’s plans and would leave a huge question mark over how we can deliver the ambitious growth plans our communities need and deserve.

“It is vital that the Eastern Leg of HS2 is delivered in full and that delivery starts as soon as possible. This is about more than just rail and trains – it’s about new jobs, new homes and new starts for communities that have been denied these opportunities over many years.

“This is a critical issue for Chesterfield and Staveley. I will not rest in working with council and business leaders along the planned Eastern Leg to hold Government to account and to ensure that the Prime Minister honours his commitment to deliver HS2 East in full. Time is of the essence to re-assert the strength of Chesterfield’s social and economic case ahead of Government’s planned publication of its Integrated Rail Plan.”

Scott Knowles, Chief Executive at East Midlands Chamber, said: “HS2 East is home to 13 million people, and about six million jobs, equating to 20% of the UK, larger than the economy of Denmark. Chesterfield shows how the investment does far more than just getting people to city centres. The importance of this opportunity to regenerate, level up and make a real difference to people and communities cannot be overstated and must not be missed.”

Dom Stevens, manager of Destination Chesterfield commented: “Chesterfield is already moving forward with significant plans and developments so that the town can maximise the wide range of economic benefits HS2 has to offer.

“The originally proposed spur of the line arriving at Chesterfield Station will improve connectivity, journey times and capacity on our rail network locally and nationally, bringing with it vital investment opportunities.

“We would urge the NIC to rethink its recommendations and take into the account the huge strides our town has already made to regenerate its economy, with HS2 playing a huge role in attracting new people into the area to invest, live and work.”

To read Don’t Cut Here! A Case study on Why the economies of Chesterfield and Sheffield need HS2 in full online visit: www.chesterfield.gov.uk/media/1492665/chesterfield-borough-council-hs2-document.pdf

 

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