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Lamps |
TRAFFIC SURVEY
Delays to rush-hour traffic were caused on two of
the main roads into the city centre as hundreds
of cars and lorries were stopped from 7am at two
census points on Exeter Bridge in Derwent Street,
and at the Morledge. The survey formed part of a
public consultation exercise over the city
council's Connecting Derby road scheme (which has
already been decided anyway). At Exeter Bridge,
police diverted cars and lorries into the outside
lane where staff from consultancy firm Count On
Us handed them a traffic questionnaire.
The Warwick firm is carrying out the two-day
survey for the council to establish possible
effects of its £22.5m project to revamp city
centre roads. The Freepost form asked motorists
to record information, including where they are
going and their journey's purpose. Connecting
Derby project manager Andy Smart said the
information gained would be fed into a computer
to enable council officers to assess the possible
future impact of the road changes. Dave Liddell,
a traffic surveyor for Count On Us, said,
"The delays haven't been too bad. When you
are just handing out postcards, the traffic goes
through pretty quickly." |
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CONNECTING DERBY
Derby
resembles a building site with areas such as 'Duckworth
Square' lying derelict for many years. The City Councils
current pet project is the 'Connecting Derby' scheme
which appears to be encouraging people to shop in
neighbouring towns and cities by making the city centre
an obstacle course for shoppers. 'Connecting Derby' seems
to mean connecting Derby to Nottingham which is only 15
miles along the A52, Burton which is a short hop along
the A38 and a regular bus service will take you to
Sheffield's Meadowhall in less time than it takes to
drive into Derby, find a parking space and track down a
shop that actually stocks what you need. On-going
building and roadworks, which began in 1812, are planned
to last indefinately.
The
current traffic fiasco at Five Lamps will be repeated
tenfold across the city by the time the Connecting Derby
scheme is completed. The first planning application for
Phase 2 is now out and needs to be objected to by
Christmas. Not revealed by this application are the many
proposed road closures which will accompany Connecting
Derby, forcing thousands more people to use the ring
road.
What are now short journeys across our small city centre
will become long, congested traffic crawls along the ring
road. Connecting Derby is clearly designed to serve
Cityscape and its developers and ignore the residents of
Derby. The decision by the cabinet members of Derby City
Council to compulsorily purchase and displace well over
200 small businesses and traders to promote a huge
American-style mall (the new Eagle Centre) is typical of
the council's undemocratic approach.
A resident displaying a banner outside his house
protesting against plans to complete Derby inner ring
road has been told to take it down. Trevor Lloyd-Davies
believes his listed home in Friar Gate is threatened by
the city council's Connecting Derby road improvement
plans. To make his point, he has hung a 12ft banner -
emblazoned with Save our City - from his house.
But the move has not gone down well with Derby City
Council, which yesterday ordered him to remove the banner
from the side of the Grade 2*-listed house where he has
lived for the past five years. Mr Lloyd-Davies is a
member of Derby Heritage and Environmental Association
for Residents and Traders (Heart), the opponents of Derby
City Council's £22.5m inner ring road scheme, which paid
for the banner.
Mr Lloyd-Davies, who is a chiropodist, said, "They
are going to build a stonking dual carriageway outside my
house. I think we should save our city. We should try to
preserve what we've got. I feel so strongly about this. I
think putting the banner up is such a small thing
compared with what the council want to do, which is build
a huge carriageway through the centre of Derby. We're
hoping residents will support us. If they're not going to
let people have an input and put forward our ideas, then
I'm afraid the only thing we can do is protest."
But Councillor Sara Bolton, Derby City Council cabinet
member for planning and prosperity, said Mr Lloyd-Davies
would receive a letter telling him to remove the banner
with immediate effect. She said, " Anyone putting up
an advertisement of that size in the conservation area
needs permission. He's not applied for permission and
will be asked to remove it or we'll take the matter
further." Mr Lloyd-Davies' home is only yards from
three 10ft high advertising hoardings currently carrying
advertisements for cigarettes and cut-price holidays and
also an anti-smoking campaign.
Ellen Hutchings, Chester Green resident and Derby Heart
chairman, said, "Houses like that have virtually no
foundations and the construction of a new road will
damage the building. We want to alert the public to what
is happening. We believe the inner ring road will destroy
the city. We want a public inquiry so everybody can have
an opinion."
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