The shared route being built between the river and housing development is taking shape, tarmac rather than the crushed stone surface specified on the original plans! It is still blocked at the southern end by the new fencing installed by Derbyshire County Council that will have to be removed!

Further south towards the new office block there is a setback though. Chesterfield Borough Council approved a temporary (3 year) application for a caravan sales area. The area in question includes the ‘towpath’ (currently a footpath only). We and other organisations including the Trans Pennine Trail, Sustrans, Transition Chesterfield and Waterside objected to the application saying that any development there should include widening the towpath to 3m to create a shared path. This requirement is part of the Waterside master plan to create a traffic free alternative to cycling along Brimington Road. Unfortunately all our objections were ignored.