Campaigners continue fight to scrap approved A38 plans

Campaigners say they are "devastated" that the government has approved major plans to revamp the A38 in Derby.

The Department for Transport (DfT) approved plans to create flyovers and underpasses for Little Eaton, Markeaton and Kingsway roundabouts on Tuesday.

The government said the approved works would serve 15,400 homes and 658,300 sq m of business land by 2031, "drive economic growth, and make working people better off".

Adrian Howlett, from campaign group Stop the A38 Expansion, said the plans would lead to "years of disruptive road works, more traffic, more noise, and more pollution, and less nature and green space for Derby residents."

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Howlett, 56, from Derby, said: "We are quite clearly devastated, and we were expecting it.

"It makes no sense to pour public money into a road scheme that will worsen the climate and nature crisis and won't even deliver economic growth that benefits people struggling with the cost of living crisis."

Mr Howlett also said very high value mature trees, including a 300-year-old veteran oak plus other centuries-old oaks and other species could be lost if the plans are followed through.

The group successfully forced the scheme to stop in 2021 due to failings in the environmental assessment around carbon emissions.

In 2023, the group argued plans put forward in 2020 had been approved without an up-to-date economic assessment, but a High Court judge rejected the group's arguments in a decision published in August 2024.

The full business case for the A38 expansion, which will provide the updated costs and assessments, is due in June 2026.

The group has serious concerns the approved works will result in 11.8 hectares of trees being felled which will have a "negative impact" on the environment by increasing carbon emissions and will "worsen the climate crisis".

They also say money would be better spent to improve public services, transport projects "that benefit everyone", or on further special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision.

Dr Sarah Hobday, 60, a retired consultant paediatrician from Derbyshire, fears residents near Markeaton Island and the nearby Royal School for the Deaf will be exposed to increased pollution if the plans are followed through.

Jonathan Davies, MP for Mid Derbyshire, said he understood residents were "rightly concerned" about how the plans could lead to a loss of trees and its impact on Markeaton Park.

Claire Ward, mayor of the East Midlands, said the approved works "will help to reduce congestion in and around Derby".

"I appreciate the local environmental concerns that have been raised," said Ward.

"I have confidence that the government and National Highways will work together to minimise environmental damage, nurture mature trees, plant new trees, and maximise pedestrian and cyclist safety."

Stop the A38 Expansion said in a statement the government had "decided that funding a polluting, destructive and pointless road scheme to line the pockets of the private developers is more important than funding for SEND children or preventing disabled people and pensioners falling into poverty".

In response, the DfT said its approved scheme would make "working people better off" and it would mean "journey times will be slashed, saving commuters businesses and freight thousands of hours every week, boosting economic growth across the whole country".

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