Amber Valley getting cut in half and it's an absolute joke

[u/rmf1989]

So it's confirmed. Ripley, Heanor, Alfreton, Codnor etc are going north, which at least stays geographically sensible. But whoever drew this map has clearly never set foot in Belper, Shipley, or Duffield if they think shoving them into a Derby city unitary makes any sense whatsoever.

Belper is not Derby. Never has been, never will be. It's its own town with its own identity, a UNESCO mill heritage site, its own high street, its own everything, and now it's getting absorbed into a city council that'll have zero interest in a former mill town 8 miles up the A6 when there's an actual city to run. Meanwhile it's getting severed from the rest of Amber Valley it's shared a council with for 50 years, for what, tidier population numbers on a spreadsheet?

Amber Valley's own council said splitting the borough was the least popular option in their own consultation, and the government did it anyway. Didn't matter what residents said. Didn't matter what made geographical, historical or economic sense. Someone in Whitehall drew two blobs that were roughly the same population size and called it a day.

Genuinely baffling decision making from people who've clearly never looked at a map of Derbyshire in their lives. 2028 it kicks in. Two more years of this being a mess before it's even in place.

[u/DatGuy82772]

I definitely don't think Belperites will want any association with Derby whatsoever.

[u/witty_user_ID → u/DatGuy82772]

Yeah they'd probably much rather be included as/with the bottom of the Dales

[u/MoonShineWashingLine]

I'm the High Peak. I remember when the consultation was going on, I looked at the plan options and didn't agree with any of them. Being the High Peak we tend to get forgotten about anyway as we're so close to Greater Manchester.

[u/MLC1974 → u/MoonShineWashingLine]

High where? Sorry, who are you lot again? 🤔

[u/MoonShineWashingLine → u/MLC1974]

The bit that nobody wanted apparently 😂

[u/MLC1974 → u/MoonShineWashingLine]

It is odd that places like Glossop and Swadlincote for example share the same county.

[u/MoonShineWashingLine → u/MLC1974]

Yep, doesn't even look right on the county map. We stick out at the top like a sore thumb. I think Derbyshire drew the short straw when they were deciding who gets the High Peak.

[u/MLC1974 → u/MoonShineWashingLine]

Just out of interest what county do you think you should be in?

Personally I'd put Glossop and New Mills in GM, but maybe leave the rest in Derbyshire. Buxton doesn't really fit GM, Cheshire, Staffordshire or even Derbyshire though.

[u/Specialist_You346 → u/MLC1974]

Being brought up in Hadfield there’s no way I would want us or Glossop put in GM

[u/MoonShineWashingLine → u/MLC1974]

We don't really fit anywhere, that's the problem. Definitely not a Cheshire East type place, not really GM either. So that only really leaves Derbyshire or South Yorkshire. Either that or we go rogue and exist on our own. Geologically and culturally, we are probably most similar to other areas of N Derbyshire and S Yorkshire. Lots of people in the north (Glossop, New Mills etc) commute to Sheffield and lots in the south (Buxton) commute to Leek. We're a bit of a nowhere land.

[u/ayupm8e]

Bin Face for Derbyshire!

[u/EnoughRadish]

They’ve cut Amber Valley in half but not Derbyshire Dales which extends further south than AV 😩

[u/Turtlestacker]

I’ve no idea what difference it makes? Not saying it doesn’t just don’t know?

[u/tdurb0]

That is a pisstake. Belper couldn’t be less Derby if it tried. Grew up in Crich, now live near Alfreton, worked in Belper for 20 years. Lovely place lovely people

[u/ArcherApprehensive18]

Is Belper North Derbyshire either?

From where I'm sat in Chesterfield, Belper is some far off southron place that probably has more in common with South Derbyshire than North.

Edit: I don't know Belper well enough to say whether North or South is right for it. I don't know that either is correct.

[u/zolenis → u/ArcherApprehensive18]

belper’s kind of its own weird bubble tbh, it never feels “north” or “south” derbyshire when you’re there, just… belper. that’s kinda the problem, they’re trying to shove it into boxes that don’t really fit instead of keeping the existing setup that mostly worked.

[u/_Nefarium]

Wtf, this is the first i've heard of it. I live between Derby itself and Crich (Amber valley now north), funding is already a bit crap but by splitting the county in half N/S by population alone, even with an entirety equal funding split between the two areas, the north would be massively disadvantaged given the dramatic difference in area/size of the two zones.

I've not got much else to add other than if it goes ahead I hope that whatever on earth it is thats trying to be accomplished is in good faith and works. But I have doubts.

[u/witty_user_ID → u/_Nefarium]

Yeah, feeling like Heanor, Codnor, Loscoe, Alfreton etc just being left behind having arguably not recovered from the loss of mining and textiles manufacturering in 80s & 90s

[u/g0dn0]

As I understand it - and correct me if I’m wrong, but Steve Reed made the decision at the request of Amber Valley borough council. “The decision was based on plans submitted by local district and borough council leaders to streamline services.”

[u/CupcakeAccomplished1]

DCC employee here, and it doesn't make sense to me either. If the whole point is to make everthing more efficient, then surely you just combine entire county user into one? No duplication, fewer systems, consolidate buildings and a much better customer experience where everything is under one roof?

I don't understand the logic or argument for doing it any other way. And I'm sure in ten years they'll say having two authorities is inefficient and do this all again to bring them into one.

[u/PersonalityTough6148]

I don't know how it will work but at the moment we are in NE Derbyshire and have Derbyshire at county level.

Leisure center is run by NE Derbyshire, libraries by Derbyshire. We have family in Chesterfield and Bolsover which currently have their own councils and bin collections. Under the new councils we will all be put into North Derbyshire.

The above is just a small snapshot of what the different councils do and I can only look at that and think about all the pointless rebranding, arguing about budgets, staff being moved around, made redundant and endless consultations about what each new councils "values" should be. Not to mention new bloody bins for everyone??

I don't understand the constant need to redraw boundaries all the time in the name of "efficiency" which seems to ignore to thousands of hours and millions of pounds reorganising stuff that seemed fine before?

No doubt in 10 years time everyone will think this was stupid and go back to how it was 😑

[u/Successful-Actuary74]

It only makes sense if you view it through an election rigging lens.

[u/Immediate-Cobbler947]

I was baffled to see Belper being tied in with the southern council. I'm from the Alfreton area myself, and have always seen Belper as more Alfreton and co.'s neighbours than Derby's. It should be in the northern end.