At a special meeting of Derbyshire Dales District Council’s Community and Environment committee on 11th December 2025, the Liberal Democrat-led administration agreed to move travellers from the Clifton Road Coach Park in Ashbourne to the depot currently used by the Council on Mayfield Road.
This depot is opposite the household waste and recycling centre, a cemetery, allotments and close to sewage works.
In being used by the District Council's Green and Clean Team, relocating vital operations which serve residents and moving important storage for equipment will likely have an adverse effect on service delivery to the people of Ashbourne and surrounding villages in the south of the district.
Whilst we acknowledge the temporary site close to the town centre at the Clifton Road Coach Park is totally inappropriate and also illegal, we are also concerned by this new temporary site in Ashbourne.
Despite spending taxpayers’ money on consultants to find more possible traveller sites, the “Progressive Alliance” of Liberal Democrats, Labour and then Greens have failed to offer any serious solutions.
We are concerned that Mayfield Road site is subject to a covenant in favour of Nestlé (their factory closed in 2003 and was decommissioned in 2004), restricting the possible uses of the site. This could result in potentially high legal costs. This needs reviewing urgently.
Planning permission will also be needed to change the use of the site, which deserves full and careful consideration. Traffic issues and odour from the nearby sewage works are among the concerns which need addressing.
The District Council has a history of operating in a way that lacks transparency on these contentious issues. Residents deserve transparency.
Your local Derbyshire Dales Conservatives will continue to hold the Council to account. Thank you to Cllr Stuart Lees (Leader of the Conservative Group, Councillor for Ashbourne North), Cllr Susan Hobson (Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group) and Cllr Dermot Murphy for their work on this committee.