Buxton Civic Association transforms the town’s ‘grot spots’

A project which aims to clean up Buxton’s ‘grot-spots’ - making it a town new visitors will be impressed by and residents can be proud of - has cleaned up 11 ugly town eyesores.

Buxton Civic Association’s Places and Spaces scheme hopes to ‘lift the overall appearance’ of the town by targeting small neglected areas - such as broken benches and walls.

The scheme - launched in 2015 - hopes to ‘lift the overall appearance’ of Buxton to further increase its appeal in-line with the multi-million pound Crescent development.

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Jon and Diane White, both members of the Places and Spaces committee, have spent the last two years identifying run-down parts of the town such as damaged walls and benches before finding out who has responsibility for them and ‘nagging’ them with emails and phone calls to see repairs done.

Jon said the idea behind Places and Spaces was to find small, neglected areas which were relatively straightforward to repair but which make a significant difference to the town as a whole.

He said: “It’s about developing relationships with people to get things fixed.

“And it’s surprising how much time it takes - after finding a site you send emails and follow those up with phone calls.

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“But the council has been terrifically helpful, as have the private sector who sometimes have responsibility for the sites - they don’t always know about these things so we’re like their eyes and ears.”

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Simon Fussell, the civic association’s business development manager, said the project played a crucial role in lifting the overall appearance of Buxton - which will see a large influx of visitors when the Crescent development is complete.

He said: “We’ve got these fabulous buildings being restored but everyone needs to have the civic pride to get the little things right because they can make a difference.”

n Places and Spaces have a list of at least 15 more grot-spots to tackle over the coming months but if you are aware of any others in need of attention let them know by emailing 
[email protected].