Belper Town Council (BTC) has for many years been a supporter of Derbyshire Community Transport (DCT), a charity that, as it says on its website:
At Derbyshire Community Transport we believe that no one, regardless of age, ability/disability, financial status or domestic location should be prevented from enjoying a full life because of lack of access to transport.
To do this we run services aimed at getting people out and about. We are focussed and passionate about ensuring everyone has access to transport that suits their individual needs.
Our ambition is to be at the heart of the community we serve and to act as the means by which local people are able to participate fully in their local communities.
Link to Derbyshire Community Transport website
The Car Club
 |
| The Car Club Ford Torneo outside St.Peter's Church |
vehicles and gradually losing bus services. This trend had to be reversed. The pandemic threw a spanner in the works but emerging from lockdown opportunities to improve public transport started to emerge. We had been very concerned that the number of available wheelchair accessible taxis had halved in Amber Valley from 28 to 14 and wheelchair users were reporting problems in getting to hospital appointments or other venues. Because BTC had strengthened ties with DCT with one of our councillors joining DCT as a trustee board member we started a dialogue so that when the possibility of offering transport for people with disabling conditions came up we were fully supportive. What is now known as the Car Club, backed by a group of volunteer drivers and administered by DCT from their HQ in Marehay has just started. Two vehicles have been purchased, one, capable of taking full size powered wheelchairs whilst the other is an electric car modified with swivel front seats to aid getting in and out. Both are based on the Coppice car park and can be hired by the hour for £5, with or without a driver as long as you are registered as a member of the club (annual fee of £20). A really cheap alternative method of transport. Belper Labour councillors see this as a first step and want to increase the number of volunteer drivers and build up a regular group of passengers and make this scheme a real success. Belper is one of only 4 towns in the country to offer a car club such as this. Details of the Car Club can be found here
Bus route opportunities
 |
| The new 147 service in King Street |
• Route 143 combines the old 143 and 147 routes creating additional links
• Improved service between Ripley and Belper – 3 return journeys a day
• New link between Street Lane, Marehay and Ripley to Belper and
Babington Hospital
• Three new round trips between Belper Town Centre and Parkside via
Babington Hospital
• Improved timetable from Street Lane, Marehay and Ripley to Sainsburys
Belper Labour councillors are already planning more services to provide a "town service" linking all estates to the Leisure Centre, Town Centre and other amenities, from Belper Lane End to Bargate, Laund Hill to Parks Estate ............. and to run in the evenings and all day Sunday. You can only break free from private car use if you have fully comprehensive public transport alternatives. We look forward to exploring the opportunity to invest in a flexible, on demand electric town bus service fit for the 21st century.
 |
| Driverless electric bus as trialled in Inverness |
2 comments:
Hi John. I posted on your Facebook page that I thought this is a great idea. However you have forgotten about the other side of the river. Chevin Road has no public transport apart from up to 1 ¼ miles away on either A6 or Ashbourne road. In winter we don’t even get a gritter to make the road safe for walking or driving. Why have we been forgotten?
That is a well made point. When the town bus service is being planned this can be absorbed into the thinking. In the meantime you could explore the Derbyshire Connect option or have a chat with Derbyshire Community Transport.
Post a Comment