Alfreton in Bloom & Open Gardens

The Town Council are organising a competition for the gardens & allotments in Alfreton on Saturday 22nd July 2023 and an ‘Open Garden’ day where residents are invited to open up their gardens to the general public on Sunday 23rd July 2023.

The competition and ‘Open Gardens’ is open to all residents living in the township of Alfreton (Please note this does not include surrounding areas such as Somercotes, Oakerthorpe, Westhouses or South Normanton).

Entry is completely free

Those wishing to enter can download the forms here:

Competition Entry Form

Open Gardens Entry Form

return to:

Alfreton Town Council

High Street

Alfreton

DE55 7HH

(Opening hours Tuesday  – Thursday 9am  – 12:30pm)

 

Or via email: Office@alfretontc.co.uk

 

 

Additional Information

Town Council fury at further delays to access scheme at Alfreton Station

After accepting an invite from the Town Council, representatives from Network Rail attended the full council meeting on Tuesday evening to explain to members why there has been a further delay to the schemes to provide step free access to platform 2. Members heard how the scheme had been deferred in 2019 due to Government cuts, but had been due to start construction at the start of this year. A combination of inflationary pressures, budget challenges set by the government, and the pandemic were cited as the reasons for the most recent delays. Network Rail apologised to the Council and wider community for the latest delays.

 

The meeting pressed for some assurances the project would still go ahead and was advised that a design review and tendering process would consume much of this year, and with a construction period of up to nine months completion by early 2024 was now anticipated. The meeting was also informed that the agreed taxi provision by the rail companies for disabled passengers unable to reach platform 2 was not widely advertised, and that a councillor had witnessed a disabled passengers being misadvised by train staff to proceed to Langley Mill to change trains.

 

Councillor Scott Walker said ‘it is clear that the root cause of the delays rest with central government and I urge our local MP Nigel Mills to turn his repeated broken promises into firm action with his government colleagues. Levelling up for Alfreton has so far seen our direct London Services cut, our regional services reduced by around 35% with 48 hours notes, threats of closure to our ticket office, and promised funds for the access scheme spent in Market Harborough.” The meeting resolved to write to Gary Walsh, East Midlands Route Director for Network Rail pressing for urgent progress, and share the latest update with the Derbyshire Law Society asking them to bring litigation against Network Rail under the Equalities Act. The meeting further agreed to write to East Midlands Railway and Northern Rail seeking confirmation of their provision for disabled passengers, and details of the training provided to station and train staff for these arrangements.

 

Full details of the Network Rail update can be found here: Network Rail update on Alfreton Station May 2022

Additional Information

White Post Farm comes to Alfreton!

Come and join us on Saturday!
WhitePost-Farm comes to Alfreton! Mice, Guinea Pigs, Rabbits, Chicks, Ducklings, Reptiles, Creepy Crawlies and more! Alfreton House 10am – 2pm
Over at Alfreton Indoor Market we have the Mayors Charity Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre and FREE face painting from Chernobyl Childrens LifeLine
***Alfreton House is located on the junction of Rodgers Lane & High Street, opposite Mario’s Fish bar ***

Town Council calls for senior management changes at East Midlands Railway

At its recent meeting Alfreton Town Council considered an update on further changes to East Midlands Railway services (EMR). The meeting heard that in little under 12 months EMR had substantially reduced services to the Town, including the removal of the Towns direct London services after almost 50 years, and more recently a 35% reduction in regional services to the Town with 48 hours’ notice with mass cancelation due to operational difficulties. The meeting was also told has EMR has now twice reneged on promises to reinstate those services from the 12th of December and the 3rd of January respectively, only advising stakeholders retrospectively and was still taking bookings for travel on these withdrawn services.
Council Deputy Leader Mary Kerry told the meeting that it is apparent that East Midlands Railway have been less than transparent in their correspondence, most notably with fare paying customers, and would seemingly have an unhealthy culture in that respect highlighted by recent suggestions of a ‘slightly reduced timetable’ which has subsequently transpired to be almost 1 in 5 of their trains scheduled to call at Alfreton.
The Town Council has previously passed a vote of no Confidence the management of East Midlands Railways, and it was unanimously resolved at their recent meeting that should be extended to call for the top level of management at EMR to consider their position to allow both the culture and service to be addressed by a new team.