Matlock group to speak at town forum

Matlock Community Vision secretary Helen Crane will describe the new group’s aims and progress so far on future plans for Bakewell Road at a public forum at Derbyshire Dales District Council’s Matlock Town Hall HQ from 7pm on Wednesday, October 29.

At the end of June this year, the district council agreed to partner a community-led scheme and end its relationship with a preferred development partner appointed in September 2012.

The decision followed a public consultation workshop event in March this year, where the local community expressed a clear desire to be much more involved in the future of the Bakewell Road site.

Matlock Community Vision has since been created and the district council says it is committed to submitting any future scheme for Bakewell Road to commercial viability assessment and market testing.

Next week’s forum will also include a presentation urging Dales residents to have their say on the district council’s spending plans for 2015/16.

The conversation about Derbyshire Dales District Council’s upcoming budget started earlier this month at free public events in Ashbourne and Bakewell.

In addition to a general question and answer session – with a panel including leading local councillors and senior officers – next week’s forum will invite feedback on the budget, which is due to be set early next year.

District council leader Councillor Lewis Rose said: “We have a reputation for being a listening council and with funding tighter than ever in the coming year we need to hear how local people want their money to be spent.

“As ever, it’s a case of achieving a balance between the things people would like to see happen and what we can actually afford – but this is a vital time of year where the people of the Derbyshire Dales play a key role in setting their own priorities.”