Bypass offers up Trail opportunity

ROSALIND Taylor wrote last week to warn bypass advocates of the impact Ashbourne’s bypass could have on the Tissington Trail and the delightful green corridor that runs alongside it.

She seems to fear that routeing the bypass in parallel with the trail would cause problems with pollution in an otherwise clean environment.

Has she seen a different map?

The last route map published by the Ashbourne News Telegraph gave five route options, all of which, I hope I’m not mistaken, crossed over the Tissington Trail – rather than ran alongside it.

I agree, it’s very upsetting that such an important and historic bridleway will be compromised with what would likely be a substantial road bridge passing over it, but let’s not forget this little interruption would only knock out a few metres of a 13 and-a-half mile stretch. Right at the very start.

Planned carefully, the bypass running through the start of the

Trail could be an opportunity for the national park to enhance the start of their route into the peaks, rather than harm it in any way.

Money could be invested by the developers into replacing the car park, increasing its capacity, rebuilding the cycle hire and toilet block and routing traffic right past this new facility, rather than simply paving over it.

This new visitor hub would then become a modern, fit-for-purpose start to the Tissington Trail, attracting even more visitors and encouraging more investment into its upkeep.

And, let’s face it, many of the people that clog up the town’s streets on a Bank Holiday are probably heading to the Tissington Trail at some point – so why shouldn’t it shoulder a small interruption for the good of the rest of the town.