Never mind the bollards!

Peter Dobbs, Ashbourne Councillor, asks "What about the pedestrians?"

Yet again one of the bollards outside St John’s church on Buxton Road has been knocked over. From the impact damage and debris it is assumed that it was hit (hard) by an HGV attempting to squeeze past another HGV coming in the opposite direction.

No driver has yet owned up to the incident.

Despite being an A road (the A515) and a designated primary route, the road at this point is not wide enough for two HGVs to pass. Unless one or other of the vehicles stops short of the narrow section then one of them will have to mount the pavement.

This happens multiple times every day.

Having reported the latest demolished bollard to the County Council Highways department, a response (later retracted) suggested that the problem was not that the HGV was too close to the pavement but that the bollard was too close to the road!

In fact the response suggested that the bollard should be at least 450mm (1.5 feet) from the edge of the road.

So be warned, according to our Highways Authority (Conservative controlled Derbyshire County Council), if you are hit walking on the outside half metre of a pavement, it’s probably your fault.