Industrial units plan for Derbyshire town threatens public footpath

The application centres on land at Merchant Street, Shirebrook and has been submitted to Bolsover District Council.

In a submission to the council, John Harker, area officer for the Peak & Northern Footpaths Society, says: “The applicant has not taken any account of the public footpath which bisects the application site. This society was heavily involved in getting it opened up after many years of it being unusable. The Highway Authority did a lot of work to restore the footpath to use.

“From Hardwick Street, the footpath will partially disappear under an access road to the proposed industrial units. The Design & Access Statement makes no mention of what will happen to this section of footpath.

“There is likely to be heavy vehicles reversing in and out of the units which is a safety hazard to passing pedestrians. Until further details are available, this society objects to this application as being detrimental to users of this footpath.”

Derbyshire County Council’s rights of way section has asked the district council to advise the applicant that the footpath must remain open, unobstructed and on its legal alignment and that consideration should be given to the safety of members of the public during the works. The department further states that there should be no disturbance to the path surface, no encroachment of the path and no fencing should be installed without consulting the rights of way section.

A decision on the application is pending.