Column: Are we planning Buxton town centre for the next 5 years – or the next 50?
Much has been said about the proposed redevelopment of The Springs and the future of Buxton town centre.
Supporters speak of investment and regeneration. Critics raise concerns about parking, housing density, the loss of retail space, and the overall direction of travel for our town centre.
But there is another question that deserves far greater attention. Are we making decisions today that could limit Buxton's opportunities tomorrow?
One consequence of the current proposals is the anticipated loss of the town centre's existing 422-space car park. To compensate, attention has turned to land behind Buxton Station as a potential location for replacement parking.
To some, despite the planning concerns already raised by local residents and community groups, this may appear to be a practical solution. However, before valuable land is committed to a new car park in order to facilitate the wider redevelopment proposals, I believe we should ask a more fundamental question. What might Buxton Station become in the future?
Only recently, Derbyshire County Council voted in favour of my motion supporting the reinstatement of the railway between Matlock and Buxton. The feasibility work undertaken by the Peaks and Dales Line group suggests their project has the potential to transform regional connectivity, reduce road traffic, strengthen the local economy and improve access to the Peak District.
Should that vision ultimately become reality, Buxton would no longer simply be the end of a branch line from Manchester. Our town, long promoted as the gateway to the Peak District National Park, could become an important through station linking communities, visitors and businesses across the Midlands and North West.
If that happens, the land surrounding Buxton Station could become one of the most strategically important assets in the town. Future generations may need this very space for expanded station facilities, improved public transport interchange, active travel infrastructure, visitor facilities, additional rail capacity, or other transport-related uses that we cannot yet fully foresee.
Importantly, many of these opportunities could be served by the station's existing access arrangements via Station Road, without the need for significant engineering works elsewhere. Once strategically located land is committed to other purposes, opportunities that may arise from future transport investment can become much harder, and in some cases impossible, to realise.
This is not an argument against regeneration. Nor is it an argument against investment in Buxton. I believe our town needs both. However, my responsibility as a County Councillor is to ensure that major decisions affecting public assets and town-centre land are considered not only in terms of today's priorities, but also tomorrow's opportunities.
That means asking whether the current proposals have fully considered the long-term transport future of Buxton. It means asking whether sufficient thought has been given to future rail expansion, integrated transport, sustainable travel and the role Buxton could play within a wider regional network. I am not convinced those questions have yet been adequately answered.
Residents deserve confidence that decisions being taken today will not inadvertently constrain the choices available to future generations. They deserve assurance that all realistic alternatives have been explored and that strategic opportunities have been properly considered before important land is committed to new uses.
The people of Buxton are not simply custodians of the town as it exists today. We are custodians of its future as well. That is why the question is not merely where replacement parking should go. The question is whether we are making the best possible decisions for Buxton's long-term future, and whether we are safeguarding one of the most strategically important areas of the town for the opportunities that future generations may wish to pursue.
Before we decide what should be built around Buxton Station, we should first decide what role we want Buxton Station to play in the decades ahead.