Rushup Edge track – yet another consultation!
Many of you will be aware of the ongoing saga over the hill at Rushup Edge, where Derbyshire County Council have paused works after mountain bikers protested on site back in 2014. DCC stopped their work and the trail has been closed since, officially anyway.
Peak District MTB have worked hard on this topic, trying to open better discussions between DCC and other user groups – not just mountain bikers. Sadly, this hasn’t really happened – but at least DCC are now making their plans public and asking for feedback.
There’s been one round of this already, with somewhat unsympathetic plans and little thought given to the area that they’re working on.
The second round of consultation is now open, with DCC showing their latest plans for the trail and asking for feedback from the public and user groups.
Click here to view/download the plans and fill in the questionnaire.
(note that DCC refer to this track as Chapel Gate due to the route numbering system – most (all?) of the MTB community consider this a part of Rushup Edge)
From a Ride Sheffield point of view, we object to these plans on the following points
- The plans are written very much in civil engineer speak, rather than plain English
- The plans appear to have been formulated along roads/highways lines rather than considering the history and use of the track
- The planned work is still excessive. Much of this route is bedrock with no need for surfacing of these sections
- Although drainage has been mentioned, the type of surfacing means that rain will cause much of the surfacing to be washed out onto the road
- Mention is made of concrete – wholly unsuitable in this location!
There’s plenty more to say, but we’re leaving it to you folks to tell DCC and Peak District MTB exactly what you think. Send feedback via the questionnaire link, but please let Esther at Peak District MTB know your points too. She’s compiling biker’s opinions to be able to send in a more official response. You can email Ester here.
