Subscribe now and choose from over 30 free gifts worth up to £49 - Plus get £25 to spend in our shop
But if you only highlight their bs to them, they'll continue to take the piss. They need shaming/embarrassing publicly or getting bollocked by a higher power. Problem is, we don't have the funds to get a higher power to listen.
We've got social media and cameras, someone could script a short documentary about what's going on, inserting the key players of DCC involved in these decisions, lots of before and afters. Do a 'Watchdog' type thing - I dunno, it's a start?
Regarding funds; the ombudsman does. We just need to start the ball rolling with a well written letter of complaint to DCC.
And ragp - yes that would be good. Time is our only issue
I'll just throw this up again -
https://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/do_it_now/default.asp?goToNav=%3E148%3E7%3E&VD=report_it_roadcondition
The more reports they get and have to investigate and repair the better our roads should get but the less budget they will have for tinkering with paths that are not really carrageways in anything but designation on a map
I imagine a sudden spike in road fault reports might make people start to ask questions
Heading up there tomorrow morning for a valedictory ride and to see it for myself, been a while since I headed in that direction.
I'd like to put on record my thanks for all those of this community (and others) who have fought to reverse this vandalism.
On that note an article on today's Daily Torygraph (I know, at least it's not the mail, I usually read it to balance the Grauniad), which has uncanny similarities with what is happening here..
Interesting article that funk. We're just weighing up our options - stay tuned. It's too late to give in now
PDMTB is now pursuing this through DCC's own complaints process, if you are a signed up member (register on th website) you should have received an update, if not, pop over to the site and register and we will send you the info required. There is a post on the FB page as an example of what one member has done.
A few people seem to have backed off from this issue, but if we do that then DCC can effectively do whatever they want and we will all lose in the long run - there is still the Roman Road, Bamford Clough and Hurst Clough under consideration for work (Roman Rd has a £70k budget approved but they have not specced the work yet - yeah, go figure that one!)
We could really do with the same level of support that everyone here threw behind the first effort to get the work stopped. Any help appreciated:
[url= http://www.peakdistrictmtb.org ]Peak District MTB[/url]
I'm signed up but not seen the update yet.
Have you had previous updates?
I believe I'm on the mailing list, but not the facebook list and have as yet received nothing.
I'm signed up on the website, but no updates...
Also now a Derbyshire resident so very very happy to make appropriate representations ...
Ok for those not in receipt of the email update, pls find the info below:
Hi,
[u]DCC Decision - Repairs to Chapel-en-le-Frith Byway Open to All Traffic 144[/u]
As you are no doubt aware, DCC ROW Officer has delivered his report to the Council and they have approved the works to continue as planned. This means that the materials currently in position will remain and some form of top dressing will be applied to smooth the trail.
It is our firmly held belief that the report has cherry picked comments from the responses of those consulted to support the argument of the DCC ROW Officer in question and ignored any dissenting voice. So much so that the feedback from the BMC has been ignored completely. We now need your help to challenge this decision.
DCC has lent upon accessibility as an argument for this work. Accessibility is something we fully support, we are in favour of increasing access in all its various aspects, including access to ride more widely. We would be more accepting of this decision if accessibility was the primary reason for the work being instigated but it was not. The opinions of two local disabled groups has not been sought.
This whole exercise appears to have been engineered to provide a sufficient number of responses to allow DCC ROW Officers to selectively quote from those that support its original position. This is both misleading and undemocratic. There has been no consideration of factors such as current usage, potential usage, economic impact for this work and in a time of austerity, large scale cut backs and deteriorating roads, the priorities seem to be driven more by someone's agenda than a rational approach.
There is currently work planned by DCC on the Roman Road that leads up the side of Win Hill to Hope Cross, and to Doctor's Gate, the scope and scale of this work is, as yet unknown but for the Roman Road a figure of £70,000 has been allocated. There is also Hurst Clough and Bamford Clough being considered.
If you would like to help us to challenge this decision, we have just one more opportunity. We can follow DCC's own procedures to complain about the decision. To do this you need to either write to DCC personally, explaining that you are dissatisfied with the process that has led to this decision. State your reasons, please keep them rational and to the point and we may yet have a chance to reverse this decision.
This is a link to the process for complaints, a bit turgid but worth reading.
[url= http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/council/complaints/complaints_procedure/default.asp ]http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/council/complaints/complaints_procedure/default.asp[/url]
This is the link to the complaints form:
[url= http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/council/complaints/complaints_procedure/default.asp ]https://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/council/contact_us/new_contact_form/default.asp[/url]
Address to which you can write:
Derbyshire County Council
County Hall
Matlock
DE4 3AG
You will need to put this into your own words and reference either the letter or email as RE: Council Decision - Repairs to Chapel-en-le-Frith Byway Open to All Traffic 144
Key points being:
the report was selective and misleading
the process behind the report was not undertaken fairly
the decision has been made without full understanding of public opinion
one campaigning group, mountain bikers, has been unfairly and purposefully singled out as the only dissenting voice which is untrue
Any help you can give would be hugely appreciated, we are not prepared to be treated unfairly and misrepresented. You have offered fantastic support at the start of this campaign, if you can summon the energy to help once more it would be great.
Thanks, PDMTB Committee.
If the offer is accepted, I might be a Derbyshire resident soon and will be happy to make a nuisance of myself.
And try to get horse riding friends, walkers, climbers and others to kick off if they feel the same
[url= http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/council/have_your_say/consultation_search/Consultation_search_index/public_rights_of_way_review.asp?VD=rowreview ]DCC want to know what we think of their ROW department.[/url]
Feels like time for a bit of an update.
You'll have no doubt seen the DCC report on the consultation process. Simply put, DCC ignored the myriad concerns and recommended that the original plan go ahead with some minor tweaks.
The report, in our opinion, misreprented the stated views and even ignored comments from some major organisations, not least the BMC.
Blinkered by the report, councillors voted in favour of the recommendations and work was slated to start again 'in summer'.
Behind the scenes, Peak District MTB and KoftheP have been frantically working out the next steps, the first of which is to formally complain. This has been done and DCC are investigating the challenges raised. You can see the details of complaint on the PDMTB Facebook page.
The outcome of that procedure will determine the next steps, but interestingly in the meantime, your friend and mine, Peter White of the Rights of Way department at DCC has opened a consultation on cost reductions in his department. And you are allowed a say.
It's not for us to dictate what you say, but the thoughts and objections raised in the various documents produced on Rushup certainly suggest ways in which Peter could save money.
The consultation is ostensibly about time periods in which DCC has to take action, but it also invites comments and thoughts. We'd be remiss if we didn't take this opportunity.
So there you go. Chapter 382. It's a long haul battle this one, but we can't give in. If we do now it'll be carte blanche for Peter and his cronies.
Thanks for your ongoing support.
Takes just a few minutes to fill in the survey and could help a lot.
As Pook has mentioned we are objecting through DCC's own process and channels, we also have the support of the others in the original group that objected to the work last year. It would be great to turn up the heat once more and as DCC ROW Team has asked us to let them know what we think, it would be rude not to! 🙂
I filled it in, its structured and worded in a fashion that makes me think they want you to backup what they've already decided.
Well I've filled it in and told Peter White that a really good way of saving money would be getting rid of Peter White. Not going to make a blind bit of difference, obviously, but if it spoils the vindictive sod's day even just a little bit then I'll count that as a win.
3 - 5 weeks worth of work going on at the Cown Edge Farm track leading over to Robin Hood Pickings. The lads working on it had no idea how far up they were going with it but they said it would look like a patch work quilt when done.
Well everyone. It's a year today that it all started!
Happy birthday
I rode up it* on the CX bike the other day. What a mess.
The bottom bit is now full of fist sized rocks where what the council had dumped there has washed down. Some of the original rock slabs are now a bit more exposed. The footpath at the sides is just as pronounced as always, more so in some places where it's actually collapsed down into the sunken path.
A lot of the rest of the trail-fill is still in place, testament to how much it was bashed in there but that was never intended to be the final top surface so I'd imagine if it ever gets completed that they'll need to start from scratch to ensure that the base layer is up to standard.
*I had to walk some bits
Happy birthday. Meh.
[img] 
[/img]
Rode down it a month or so ago. Still fun at the top, then suddenly PILES OF SLIDY ROCKS EVERYWHERE ARGH. Rubbish.
DCC need a proper kicking for making such a monumental cock up of this little corner of the Peak.
Rode it last week for the first time in 18 months. Awful. The smoothed completed version will be awful too.
Time for project cairn? Every time you pass, place 10 rocks on the side. Soon have it cleared!
Love the idea of a cairn.
Per the above - rode it for the first time ever last weekend, passing walkers who were up on the side bank. Got to the bottom and thought "I bet that used to be fun..."
Vandalism...
Love the idea of a cairn.
If it gets big enough I'm happy to pay for the 'DCC Highways Memorial Cairn' plaque to stick on it.
Time for project cairn? Every time you pass, place 10 rocks on the side. Soon have it cleared!
Should we just be blatant about it and organise a clean-up day? On the grounds of safety of course.
Maybe getting up there and handballing it all off the trail could be our equivalent of the kinder trespass.
It would take more than a weekend though so maybe do it quietly. We got over 70 people for a pootle one time, maybe we could get the same to clear the trail.
Maybe getting up there and handballing it all off the trail could be our equivalent of the kinder trespass.
I'm up for that. 😀
Should we just be blatant about it and organise a clean-up day? On the grounds of safety of course.
Maybe getting up there and handballing it all off the trail could be our equivalent of the kinder trespass.
As I said quite early on in this thread, it'll take a lot more than that. There's hundreds of tons of rocks over about 1000m of trail most of it whacker-plated and bulldozed into place. When they started the work they had tipper trucks and heavy machinery up there to lug the bags of rock around.
It's not just a couple of wheelbarrows worth!
My estimate was 150 tons but I'm no quantity surveyor, probably much more.
2800 riders down on Strava. 3x that without Strava. 15kg each moved, that's only the weight of a bike each, 126 tons.
😉
Don't have to do full width either, just a nice singletrack...
Not a weekend but over 6 months...
Don't have to do full width either, just a nice singletrack...
Yep, maybe just chuck some rocks off to one side, clear a bit of a path down each steppy bit. It'd be more about showing how pissed off people are than trying to completely clear the entire track, obviously.
Let's decide on the best way to do it. Maybe we don't have to get it all cleared, just pick a section to return to its former glory?
Is it still officially closed? There must be some rules being broken by keeping it closed but not working on it.
Is it still officially closed? There must be some rules being broken by keeping it closed but not working on it.
No, it's fully open. No signs at all now. A few months ago they had some "trail closed" signs which had been placed face down on the verge but they're gone now as well.
There was a scout group having a picnic at the bottom of it when I rode it last week.
Pop a couple of rocks in your pockets as you ride down. Shake 'em out at the bottom...
[img] 
[/img]
Not a local but have ridden there a couple of times. Appears to me that a lot of tax payers monies are being wasted/misspent.
Can riders not monitor/photo/video etc the erosion over the next winter for evidence?
Is there not some Ombudsman that interested parties can complain to?
MP?
Local/national TV programme? There seems to be plenty of day time programmes covering "rip off Britain"
We've been talking about lack of trail maintenance locally. I remind those who are moaning that unless there is a recognised club/organisation etc and they join then individuals having a moan out on the trail or wherever will not achieve anything. Someone has taken this on board, a club is being formed and trail maint is a subject up for discussion. 😆
Just read some back posts, seems it's all been covered......
Good luck and keep it going 🙂
Trekster, thank you for that timely nudge. Locally, these are the folks doing the fighting.
Join and follow these groups. They need all the support you can give!
What about making a long barrow, they have a suitable purpose
Cheers Pook.
Been a bit "off colour" re biking(35yrs)recently but re-visiting some old haunts and a trip down your way is required.
A mate has done a lot of work with the view to getting a club started locally and we hope to engage with our local FC re a volunteer trail maint group. At a recent "consultation" session it was mentioned there was no money for trail maint and volunteer / community groups prepared to help may be the way forward. The person I was talking to was not aware of my previous 😉
How's the "no car cafe" doing? Used it a fair bit in the past but not been out that way since rushup was ruined.
The long barrow sounds like an excellent idea
Bit of a thread bump. I didn't ride the actual trail but passing the bottom of it today on the CX bike, it was a river. There was water pouring off it all over the road but the rocks seem really well bedded in as the water was clear, it wasn't bringing any gravel with it. Nothing further has been done to the trail since the last update on here, it's a proper mess to ride.
Never seen that much water coming off it before though, even after heavy rain or in a thaw.
Crazylegs: that's interesting and useful info. They had put mostly large rocks down and i think all small particles had already been washed out into the road last year. But no consideration for drainage means this could be a real hazard. Could it freeze up?
If anyone sees anything like this, take a quick pic and email it to Peak District MTB info@peakdistrictmtb.org for our hall of shame.
We have written to DCC recently complaining about the continued closure and are yet to hear back. We're putting out a newsletter shortly: if you are a website member you'll get an email.
I've often seen water (and gravel and mud) running out across the road. Maybe those big rocks have improved it.
They haven't dumped many small rocks on it yet. There's plenty of evidence of spill out from Chapel gate because they haven't dealt with drainage adequately.
I rode it for the first time in 3 years yesterday(Rushup Edge bit), my wrists are ****ed! Horrible rocks.
Absolute vandalism
If anyone sees anything like this, take a quick pic and email it to Peak District MTB infoATpeakdistrictmtb.org for our hall of shame.
FTFY
Going downhill, the singletrack on the top of the bank on the left has got quite fun and it's now possible to stay on it all the way to the road gate. Walkers tend to use the field on the opposite side.
Surely the horsey people have had something to say about the state of the main track by now?
Email edited for you!
Thread bump.
Saw a tweet earlier from Keeper of the Peak (@KoftheP) which now seems to have been deleted but it was saying about rocks being taken up there by helicopter.
Last weekend over on the Roych Clough side as it climbs to the main road I'd seen a sign saying "Caution, helicopter activity in this area" but I didn't really link it with resurfacing work.
Anyway, after seeing the tweet I headed up there this evening on the CX. The trail is a river at the moment, it's pouring water out onto the road but it's clear water, no gravel in it. The first part of the climb is all rideable, just small stones then you reach the bits where the babyhead rocks are still firmly bedded in. Loads of exposed bedrock, water streaming over it and then in the little sunken sections, still loads of the rockfill they dumped into it. Almost impossible to ride up, difficult to walk too - now that all the smaller gravel has washed out of it the rocks just turn under foot.
The rut at the edge is mostly rideable. Got up to the Chapel Gate turn off, no sign at all of any rock dumping by heli so I carried on over the summit. The top part is just the same as always, a network of criss crossing ruts on a firm sandy base with numerous puddles. The descent (this may have been on the FP by the way, I might have accidently missed the turn off onto the bridleway - possibly...) was as usual, rutted, grassy, a few squelchy bits of mud.
No signs of any paving stones dropped up there but it might be worth someone checking over on the Chapel Gate side of the ridge.
I'll post some pictures over to Keeper of the Peak on Twitter later.
Wasn't the Heli lifting for the paving slabs of the resurfacing of the Brown Knoll path by the moorlands society? Rushup is still up in the air at the moment according to pdmtb.
Just seen this on the Moorland website about cutthroat consultations ref resurfacing as well.
Thanks for the update
I've ridden down Rushup Edge 2 months ago, didn't think it was a bad descent, but then I never saw what it was like pre surfacing.
[url= http://www.moorsforthefuture.org.uk/news/new-pathway-helps-protect-fragile-moorland ]http://www.moorsforthefuture.org.uk/news/new-pathway-helps-protect-fragile-moorland[/url]
The Brown Knoll path that was referenced earlier. Due for completion mid to late September. Once it's fully paved, it'll mean you can get from Edale Cross right across to Rushup Edge basically on flag-stones, though of course, not on a bike because of the erosion you might cause to the stone paving.
Finally some developments on this
[url= http://peakdistrictmtb.org/index.php/103-interesting-developments-with-the-rushup-edge-saga ]Peak MTB Rushup news[/url]
Please complete the DCC questionnaire and have your say
[url= http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/council/have_your_say/consultation_search/Consultation_search_index/chapel-en-le-frith_byway.asp ]DCC consultation [/url]
Good work on that. Well done on at least making them reconsider their plans, it shows you've made am impact!
As a DCC resident they can be frustrating to deal with. I've now asked 3 times for justification for cycle lanes at the end of my street not meeting national guidance, I have so far received no response!
Shameless bump. We gotta respond to the consultation (see James's post)
Sounds hopefully promising. Thanks to those who battled on this. You know who you are. Tireless work in the background.
I rode up it 3 weeks ago, it's a lot easier to ride up than it was when they first chucked all those stones down. Interested to see what they are going to do with it.
What they do will hopefully depend on your and others comments vickypea
The document suggests to me they are truning it into a flat pack gravel road. Nothing like the stone slabs of Roych Clough
Is rhe view that rhe proposed works whilst far inferior to the original are less cr@p than the current disaster ?
Partly that, in my mind, jamba, yes.
It looks to me like there will be some gravel but that there will also be done pitching like on Roych Clough - like they say.
What's unclear is how much of each surface will be so finding that out is the next challenge.
jameswilliams34- I have responded to the survey. I also wrote to DCC 2 years ago when this kicked off. I couldn't go to the protest ride as I was in hospital.
I seem to remember similar lip service paid to stanage causeway, keeping some of the rock.
Then all they did was flatten it and add a lot of dangerous drainage ditches.
Whwn I think of Roych Clough it's this below. However the planning application picture just looks like a gravel track. I completed the survey an said the works looked rubbsih and would encourage people tomdescend flat out. Perhaps that's not what people would prefer I say.
[img] 
[/img]
The drainage ditches worry me. My concern would be that they install something like the chasms just round the corner on Chapel Gate to save the gravel top stuff from water erosion where it drains off the stone pitching and end up creating something that's actually unpleasant to ride at best and actively dangerous at worst.
I suppose the best case solution is that the whole track was pitched or at least the majority of the top section, which was where the bulk of the bedrock was before, but that's going to be expensive, which means it's unlikely as it doesn't have the National Trail status and funding that the Roych does.
jambalaya- we usually ride up it rather than down, but if they turn it into an ugly flat path with no challenge then I might be less inclined to ride the very popular "Edale loop" and buy lunch in the cafe at Edale.
It's interesting isn't it? They've left a very briad spectrum available to themselves. As it says up there both in the PDMTB and KoftheP blogs (and now RS I notice), more detail is needed to make a call on it.
I would be very interested to know how long the rock has been exposed like that. If it's something that happened over the last 10 years or so, under tramping boots and bike tyres, or has it been like that for decades?
I didn't feel there was nearly enough specific information on their plans, so that's what I said. I think they'll find it very hard to get a balance which allows access for all their user groups without also making descending speeds on a bike dangerously high.
Mr Pea has just said that it was in that condition 30 years ago when he did his D of E, so why are they so keen to suddenly fix something that's been like that for donkey's years and not getting any worse (except perhaps the narrow track up to the side, which isn't really down to the bed rock?
@vicky I ride it as a descent following a Jacobs route Pook was kin enough to share with me 4-5 years ago 🙂
Vicky I made that same point in my response to the consultation doc, told em to leave it alone but continue to restrict motor traffic.
Mods, can we make this thread sticky again at least until the consultation is over?
so why are they so keen to suddenly fix something that's been like that for donkey's years and not getting any worse (except perhaps the narrow track up to the side, which isn't really down to the bed rock?
DCC would state that they want to make the (pretty isolated) trail acessable to all
But in reality it appears they are nervous of people suing them by falling over in the mountains
I also made the point about the bedrock being there for decades with (to my knowledge) very good natural drainage