Latest News – Bradwell Community Website

UPDATE: Brough Road closure, changes to pedestrian and cycle access & bus arrangements

The following is from Derbyshire County Council:

We wanted to share the latest news about our changes to the way we intend to carry out the Brough retaining wall repairs, following feedback at this week’s community drop-in session. The changes affect pedestrians, pedal cyclists and bus users.

Pedestrian and cycle access

We have reviewed this and can now provide an update that pedestrian and cyclist access will be available until 8am in the morning and from 4.30pm in the afternoon. This arrangement will be in place 7 days a week.

We have been able to make this change and allow this access by looking carefully at how we work on the site and changing our plans and resources. Given all this, we will still keep to the planned timetable of a 12 week closure, dependent on weather and ground conditions.

Depending on the type of works we are undertaking on the site, we hope to be able to provide a 30 minute pedestrian access slot at lunchtime from 12pm to 12.30pm – this lunch period option is not guaranteed and will depend on what we find on the ground following several weeks on site as well as ground conditions.

We will review the arrangements as the work progresses to see if we can introduce increased pedestrian access during the day at a later date.

Local footpaths are also available to use and will have additional notices in place to highlight them to people. This work will be progressed next week.

7 days a week working

Our team aim to be on site 7 days a week, to help us get the repairs completed more quickly, minimising inconvenience for local residents and businesses, school children, commuters and bus users.

Public transport
We have also reviewed the proposed public transport arrangements and have made the following changes.

Taking into account feedback received, we will now be providing a shuttle bus from the Batham Gate bus stop in Bradwell to Castleton Bus Station. This will connect passengers to the 173 & 272 services, for onward journeys to Hope, Bamford and the Sheffield interchange. For the 257 service, passengers would need to go to Castleton and change on to Bamford.

The service will be provided by Hulleys and will be Monday to Saturday, and then with an amended timetable on Sundays.

Timetables for the shuttle bus service will be available soon on our webpage at www.derbyshire.gov.uk/broughretainingwall A copy is attached to this email for your information.

Timetables will also be available at the Batham Gate bus stops and the Bradwell Post Office from next week to inform passengers about the temporary arrangements.

We have also extended the operating hours of the shuttle bus service, with a service from Castleton at 8pm to return passengers to Bradwell at 8.30pm.

We hope that these changes are helpful and shows our commitment to listen to the views of local people and, where we can, adjust our arrangements to minimise inconvenience as best we can.

Road Closure Updates

As a follow up to the Village Meeting about the Brough Road, below are links to the meeting notes and a Q&A covering questions raised during the meeting:

Meeting Notes: Public Meeting notes 280524

Q&A: Questions and Answers from the Public Meeting Tuesday 29th May

Road Closure at Brough from June 17th

We now know that the B6049 Stretfield Road is going to be closed at Brough for up to 12 weeks in order to rebuild the collapsed retaining wall alongside the Brook.

Derbyshire County Council (DCC) who are responsible for the works have published information about the works, diversions and local bus and school bus services on their website:

www.derbyshire.gov.uk/broughretainingwall

It is worthwhile to check the DCC website regularly as a number of aspects are still being finalised.

DCC are also holding a Public information drop-in session Tuesday 4 June from 3pm-7.30pm at the Bradwell War Memorial Hall to share further details and answer questions about the repairs.

Alternatively you can email highway.structures@derbyshire.gov.uk.

Bradwell is Open!

On May 28th, Bradwell Parish Council and District Councillor Andy Nash held a public meeting to hear residents’ and businesses concerns about the road closure and to discuss ways in which we can work together as a community to try to reduce the impact on our lives and livelihoods during the closure. Thanks to everyone who came to this well-attended event and for your many useful comments and ideas.

Following the meeting we will be working on plans to help promote to the outside world the fact that Bradwell will be ‘Open for Business’ and also encouraging everyone who lives here to ‘Buy from Bradda’ to help support our vital local businesses through this difficult period. In addition, your Parish Council will help co-ordinate ways in which the village can help one another as individuals, for example through lift shares to reduce the amount of traffic using Eccles Lane.

Bradwell has always been a resilient, close-knit community and we welcome support from anyone who has ideas or skills they can contribute to help us take on this challenge.

If you would like to help in any way, please contact the Parish Clerk at parishclerk@bradda.org

The Village Bus Service – an update from Derbyshire Dales District Council

Further to the ongoing issues with the bus services through the village, we have received the following update from the District Council on the situation:

Improvements demanded to help “abandoned” Dales bus users

Citing examples of local people being abandoned miles from home and school children marooned in the cold, wet and dark, Derbyshire Dales District Council is calling for a fairer share of bus service improvement funding for its residents.

A full meeting of the council last week approved calls for an urgent meeting with Derbyshire County Council, which provides funding to many rural bus services in the Dales.

Introducing a Motion demanding improvements, Councillor Peter O’Brien told the meeting that most rural communities in the Derbyshire Dales were seeing little or no meaningful investment from the £47-million funding awarded to Derbyshire County Council through the Bus Service Improvement Plan.

He read out a message from a Hathersage resident whose son had waited for three hours for a scheduled bus to arrive in the village, adding: “This is typical of the daily correspondence I now get from residents in the Hathersage ward.

“The current situation with many of our bus services, certainly in the northern part of the district, is dire. It seems that as many buses are cancelled each day as actually run. The impact is that many residents are left abandoned in Sheffield, in Bakewell, in Chesterfield, in Eyam, in Hathersage, Bradwell, Stoney Middleton, Baslow… the list goes on.

“And children too, as many of the services also take them to and from school. And in the Hope Valley we have no post-16 education provision so our young children have to travel into Sheffield or to Chesterfield, where they often find themselves marooned in the cold, wet and dark.”

Councillor O’Brien added: “We all understand the challenge of maintaining bus services in rural areas such as the Derbyshire Dales and we are grateful for the financial support that the County Council annually provides towards this. But in an area like ours we need lit bus shelters with comfortable seating, we need real-time information at bus stops in our villages, where services are so infrequent, and we look to the introduction of demand-responsive services to support our more isolated communities.”

All councillors approved the Motion – with one abstention – which also includes the establishment of an all-Party Transport Group of Members through which issues relating to public transport can be raised, discussed and circulated.

Moving the Motion, Councillor Andy Nash, who represents Bradwell ward, said: “Every day we get complaints from our constituents that they can’t get their buses and that has real world consequences. I know If the first bus doesn’t run then a pharmacist doesn’t get to work, a carer doesn’t get to work and a solicitor doesn’t get to work. That means no support for a group of people during the day, drugs don’t get handed out and people can’t get advice and guidance. There are real impacts from not having a bus service.”

Councillor Roger Shelley told fellow Members: “I came here on the bus tonight, but then I’m fortunate that I’m travelling along one of the main arteries of the central bus network. here. If you go off the A6 or any of the main roads the likelihood of them turning up is quite frankly remote.

“We need to put as much pressure as we can on the County Council because public money is going in to support these services. It’s fundamental to the way we live in the Dales.”

The debate can be viewed on the District Council’s YouTube channel at www.derbyshiredales.gov.uk/bus-service-debate

The Parish Council will continue to monitor the situation and provide support where possible to residents seeking to ensure reliable bus services through Bradwell.

Flooding in Bradwell

The recent flooding resulting from Storm Babet affected many of us, causing damage and disruption to a significant number of homes and businesses right across the village. Although the village is used to flooding during extreme weather events, this was unprecented.

It was heart-warming to see so many residents volunteering their time to help those affected, whether it was carrying sandbags, pumping out properties or offering cups of tea. Special thanks should go to Cllr Zach Harrison who helped many residents during and after the flood and to Cheryl at S & F General Stores who provided us with her entire stock of emergency sandbags at cost price.

The following is an extract of the report prepared for the Environment Agency by the Parish Council, which gives a snapshot of events:

Water flow and drainage issues during the flood October 20th.

We experienced a period of persistent rain on October 19 and 20 which was associated with Storm Babet Although it wasn’t particularly stormy here, the water level in the Brook rose quickly on the morning of the 20th.

A large amount of water cascaded on to the B6049 at Hazelbadge which originates from the hillsides and from old mine drains (soughs). This water runs down the road into the village.
The culvert which runs parallel to Bessie Lane was very full and overflowed creating a fast-flowing river running through local gardens. This was added to by a torrent running down Boggy Lane which originated from a new spring which may be fed by a major old mine drain. All of this water appears to have been directed towards the back of the cottages fronting on to Church St but mainly into the garden of Lyndale House where the culvert runs down the edge of the garden in an open channel. The culvert was overwhelmed, and the garden became a fast-running stream. Houses on both sides of Lyndale House had water in their gardens at the rear which flooded through the houses and out on to Church St. (B6049)
The underground final section of the culvert, which runs down Church St was overwhelmed, and the manhole covers were blown off. We then had a situation with a fast-flowing river of culvert water plus the water flowing through the houses and the Hazelbadge flow pouring down Bradwell Dale heading for the Brook. Several Church St and Brookside houses had some water through the doors which was largely restrained by sandbags. The water level at the Bridge was very high and water entered Bridge House, the first house on Netherside.
There were various smaller water flows emerging from the ground on Brookside and above.
The combined Church St “river” and the full Brook were more than the B6049 bridge and the old water mill tunnels could cope with, and Soft Water Lane became an extension of the Brook. Soft Water Mill and one property in Butts Mill, and one in New Church St had water ingress.

The Brook level is now within normal levels but a huge amount of stones and debris has been washed into it and has been deposited in several locations the largest of which is just downstream of the B6049 bridge. It is essential that this material is removed as quickly as possible as it will restrict the flow of the Brook in the event of further rain.

Help available for recovery

In the wake of Storm Babet, the Government has announced measures to help with the recovery. Flooded households in affected areas can apply for up to £500 to get quick cash to help with immediate costs. Eligible flood-hit property owners will be able to apply for up to £5000 to help make their homes and businesses more resilient to future flooding via the Property Flood Resilience Repair Grant Scheme. In addition, households and businesses significantly affected by recent flooding will be eligible for 100 percent council tax and business rates relief for at least three months and small-to-medium sized businesses in affected areas will be eligible for up to £2,500 from the Business Recovery Grant to help them return quickly to business as usual. This additional support will be available through the District Council who will announce further details on eligibility and how to apply.

Reporting Flooding

By now most of those affected should have been contacted by Derbyshire Dales District Council but if not, you can go to the link below to give details of your situation. It is helpful to the village as a whole to give as detailed a picture of the extent of the impact as possible as this increases the likelihood of action from The Environment Agency to address some of the root causes of the flooding.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/FloodData

Future Flood preparedness

Whilst we can never eliminate the risk of flooding, we can take steps to be better prepared for the next event. The Environment Agency provides advice on their website, including:

Check your flood risk online: https://www.gov.uk/check-long-term-flood-risk
Sign up for flood warnings: https://www.gov.uk/sign-up-for-flood-warnings
Know what to do if flooding hits: https://check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk/plan-ahead-for-flooding

Naturally we are keen to learn from what happened in order to be as prepared as possible for future flood events. It’s important to make clear that the Parish Council has no authority with respect to flooding, but we do our best to provide emergency help for residents, including sandbags and trying to slow the speed of passing traffic in the main road. We also liaise with the various authorities who do have responsibility and do our best to get them to attend as quickly as possible. In this respect we believe an important aspect is to better understand the broader causes and how they might be mitigated, and we are in ongoing dialogue with The Environment Agency and District and County Councils to try to address this.

In addition, we are developing a Flood Action Plan that will clarify who to contact and what to expect from the Parish, District and County Councils as well as the Emergency Services and what your responsibilities are as property owners and residents. One step we have already taken is to recruit volunteers to act as Flood & Snow Wardens who will be on hand to offer assistance, where safe to do so,during and after extreme weather events. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact the Parish Clerk at parishclerk@bradda.org

The Village Bus Service
Important Information

There has been much discussion on social media during the winter months about buses not coming into the village, or the service being unreliable. It has been reported that sometimes bus drivers will refuse to drive into Bradwell despite the village being on their schedule, passengers having to walk from Hope.

The reasons for this reluctance to drive into Bradwell are mainly the difficulties posed by the route, which requires them to turn right into Brookside at Dale End, navigate Brookside and turn left at the traffic lights to head back down Netherside towards Hope. On numerous occasions the bus has encountered poorly parked vehicles on Brookside which make it impossible to pass, involving a potentially long search for the car driver and unacceptable delays for the bus. Earlier this year damage was caused to a building by a bus and Bridge Street has recently twice been closed at Manchester House. When the road is closed in situations like this you might think the bus company has been informed, but sadly this is often not the case and on one occasion a bus had to reverse the entire length of Brookside to escape.

This situation is unlikely to improve with the approach of summer, when hordes of walkers descend on the village and leave their cars in the most unlikely places, regularly blocking the bus. Finding the car owner is then doubly complicated as they can be miles away.

Residents need to be aware that there is every likelihood that the bus companies (who do have a schedule to keep) might well decide that they can no longer risk driving into the village. At the very least the bus might only come as far as Gore Lane and turn there.

Some years ago the Parish Council worked with Derbyshire County Council to propose a solution for the problem, turning the bus at Dale End so it no longer had to negotiate Brookside. County Council funds had been earmarked and a plan drawn up for making the changes needed. Unfortunately, at a village meeting this proposal was rejected by residents and the Parish Council agreed to abandon the plan. But in light of the ongoing issues we feel it is our duty to tell you that we believe the risks to your bus service are now much higher, especially in these times of austerity. We believe there is every possibility that your unreliable service could be lost altogether unless action is taken to resolve the Brookside issue.

Your Parish Council stands ready to help. If enough residents who rely on the bus service and who would like to see it continue can get themselves together and develop proposals for a solution, then Bradwell Parish Council will be happy to help you approach the responsible authorities to see if anything can be done. If you feel strongly about this and want to do something, send an e-mail message to the parish clerk (parishclerk@bradda.org) and responses will be coordinated.