Labour listens and delivers for High Peak

Winston Churchill once said, “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”

That is exactly what Labour has done over local government reform. We have listened to the students and their families in Glossop who go to college in Greater Manchester, the commuters in New Mills who want better transport links, the older people in Buxton whose Derbyshire identity is what matters most to them and the people in Hope Valley who look to Sheffield for things like jobs and healthcare.

Having listened we have stood up this week for our communities by bringing forward proposals designed to meet these differing priorities. Labour led High Peak Borough Council have agreed to submit a proposal for a North Derbyshire council and Labour’s East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward has called for a summit with the Mayors of Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire to see up a Peak Partnership.

Sitting in the middle of where three regions converge presents huge opportunities for us. But what should be our greatest asset has, in reality, often meant we have lost out and been overlooked. I am hopeful as both of these proposals are developed over the coming months they will help us to address the unique and varied economic and public service needs of all of our communities, including the Hope Valley line, Snake Pass, the Bee Network and better and fairer access to Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire hospitals and further education.

Labour’s approach could not be in starker contrast to Derbyshire Conservatives, who did not listen and rushed to submit their proposal within hours of the announcement for a single council covering all 800,000 residents of Derbyshire. They did not consider High Peak’s very unique interests. They acted in their own very narrow political interests. They even tried to get the local elections in May cancelled to avoid scrutiny of their shameful record of running Derbyshire County Council into the ground. 

The Conservatives are now in disarray, with every part of Derbyshire rejecting their proposal.  And internal divisions are now breaking out into the open with High Peak Conservative councillors voting in favour of Labour’s North Derbyshire proposal – openly opposing their own party’s plan for a county-wide council.

I am hopeful that between the proposal for a North Derbyshire Unitary Council and the Peak Partnership of the three Labour mayors, we have the building blocks to make life better for all of us in High Peak with more integrated transport, jobs and investment and improved access to healthcare and education.