My Amber Valley

PLANS to spend £750,000 to revitalise parts of Ripley have been revealed.

Amber Valley Borough Council will spend £500,000 upgrading paving in the town's centre and a further £100,000 to improve shop fronts in the town.

Other plans include a £150,000 walkway linking Ripley town centre with Crossley Park and a drive to attract more car boot sales and attractions such as children's rides to the town's market place.

Councillor Liz Bowley, cabinet member for green and thriving places to live, said: "I see this as kick-starting the transformation of the town. Crossley Park is an asset to Ripley but there is currently no obvious way to get to it from the centre.

"NO OBVIOUS WAY TO GET TO IT FROM THE TOWN CENTRE". Has Liz Bowley ever been to Ripley. Seems obvious that the way to get to Crossley Park is from the centre of Ripley(The Market place) down Shirley Road and voila, you're there. And if people don't know, stick a bloody great big sign at the top saying so, this should save £149,500 I would have thought.

The Telegraph says - Work could start on a long-awaited relief road between Ripley and Langley Mill under plans to build a superstore and up to 140 homes – creating 300 jobs.

Brailsford-based Clowes Westerman was granted outline planning permission to build offices and warehouses on its land in Nottingham Road, Ripley, two years ago by Amber Valley Borough Council.

But council leader Stuart Bradford said, after residents objected to the proposals, the development had been revised and houses would be built in place of the industrial units.

If the new "multi-million-pound" plans go ahead, the developers said they would start work on the creation of a new A610 link road between Ripley and Langley Mill – by relocating the roundabout on Nottingham Road and building a new access road.

They said they would also build other sports facilities in the town – including a permanent home for Ripley Town Football Club.

Council leader Stuart Bradford said: "This is an opportunity now for Ripley to see some regeneration and to see some jobs.

"It would mean the beginning of the relief road, homes not industrial units, job and improvement of our sports facilities.

"It is great news and it has great potential. We've talked about the relief road for over 20 years and this is the first leg of this. It is about putting the process in place."

Andrew Bock, of Clowes Westerman, said the jobs would come from the superstore, which he described as eco-friendly. He said an operator for the store had yet to be confirmed but the building itself would be created using timber and roof lighting to make it energy-efficient.

And he said about 130 to 140 homes could be built on the land which had been allocated for industrial use.

Mr Bock said: "We believe this is a wonderful opportunity to provide Ripley residents with great facilities, enhance the appearance of an important gateway to the town and provide much-needed new homes and jobs.

He added: "Things have happened in Alfreton, things have happened in Langley Mill and things do move on.

"So I think this is Ripley keeping up with the pace."

Last year, campaigners called on Derbyshire County Council to give part of the land "town green" status, meaning it could not be used for industrial development, but a planning inquiry said the land was not used by enough people and the authority refused the application.

Mr Bock said, if the consultation process went smoothly, a planning application could be submitted next spring.

Two exhibitions of the plans will be held this month – one at Ripley Leisure Centre on Tuesday, July 19, from 3pm until 7pm, and the other at the playing fields car park in Nottingham Road on Tuesday, July 26, from 3pm until 7pm.