Community News 2024 07 24

Portraits to honour local heroes
Do you know someone who makes a difference in your community and deserves to be celebrated in a portrait?

Derbyshire libraries are hosting an artist who wants to find local heroes to immortalise in 20 portraits, for a project called We Are All Derbyshire.

Portrait artist Melissa Speed is asking Derbyshire residents to propose people who they feel deserve to have their portrait painted, in nomination sessions at seven of our libraries.

Melissa hopes to capture the likenesses of the unsung heroes who do such good work in Derbyshire's communities.

You can make your nomination at an event, or take the forms away with you and return them within seven days – to give you chance to get the permission of the nominee. You can also email a scan or photograph of the completed form to melissa@weareallderbyshire.com

The sessions are at Matlock, Heanor, Swadlincote, Buxton, Bolsover, Glossop and Ashbourne libraries.

They will be held in the mornings from 10.30am to 11.30am:

Matlock Library, Tuesday 6 August
Heanor Library, Friday, 9 August
Swadlincote Library, Tuesday 13 August
Buxton Library, Thursday 15 August
Bolsover Library, Friday 16 August
Glossop Library, Monday 19 August
Ashbourne Library, Wednesday 21 August.

Melissa will talk to the nominees and select which 20 people to paint. The actual painting would take place at a time and place to be agreed between Melissa and the subject. The finished portraits will hang in the seven libraries and will be given to the sitters afterwards to keep.

Melissa, appeared on Sky Arts' Portrait Artist of the Year in October 2023. She lives and works in Derbyshire.

Recycling centre top tips
Will you be having a clear-out at home, or creating lots of garden waste this summer? Make the most of what's on offer at our household waste recycling centres with our top tips.

Time it right – the recycling centres are usually quieter during the week. Avoid the busy periods if you can such as weekends and from 10am to 4pm
Get it sorted and save time – if you can, sort your waste into the different types before you visit. You'll be able to unload it faster. Things like textiles, paper, cardboard, glass, plastic and metals all go in different containers stay safe at HWRCs
Kids grown up? – take old toys for recycling in our toy banks. All our sites apart from Waterswallows at Buxton offer this
Canine companions and children – we love children and dogs but please keep them safe in the car at the centres 🐶
Staying safe – no flip flops (you'd be surprised!) Please wear appropriate footwear and gloves to avoid injury. We want you to stay safe. We have a great safety record at the sites but accidents can happen
Clear clutter – got Medequip items no longer needed and cluttering you up? Did you know you can return them at all of our recycling centres, except Buxton
Broken electricals – we accept items like mowers and hedge trimmers that are beyond repair, but it's worth checking out your local repair café too to see if they can be fixed
Get a bargain from our re-use shop at our Bolsover centre and if you are taking items to any of the centres that you think could be re-used please put them in the re-use area of the centre and we will do our best to reuse and recycle for you
Garden waste bin overflowing now it's mowing and pruning season? We can take your excess green waste and convert it to soil improver
Check what else you can take – check out our website for a long list of materials we can accept and some that we don't. Remember tyres and asbestos are chargeable from 1 August
It's good to talk – staff on site can help and direct you if you have any concerns or questions.

Consultation go-ahead for libraries
Are you a library user?

You'll shortly be able to have your say on proposals which will ensure library buildings in Derbyshire remain open, as well as creating a modern, agile, family-friendly and sustainable service across the county.

We unveiled the proposals in our new draft Derbyshire Public Library Service Strategy 'A Modern Library Service for Derbyshire' last week.

We'll announce the date of the consultation launch in the coming weeks.

Repairing Derbyshire's roads
Work has started on our micro asphalting road treatment programme, which will be applied to 63 residential roads, covering 92,000 square metres.

Using a process called micro asphalt, a liquid mix of stone, cement and bitumen, the treatment is applied to seal the road surface, preventing any damage and filling in any potholes.

The work is part of our ongoing highways capital programme and is a preventative treatment to maximise the road's lifespan. The micro asphalt repair programme is part of this year's £27 million investment in roads, pavements and transport across the county.

Cycle-friendly workplaces
Do you run or know of a business that may be keen to support their staff to cycle to and from work? We can help with advice and with signposting to other support.

Why be a cycle friendly workplace? Increasing cycling and walking within your organisation can help employees and your workplace become healthier, happier and more productive.

* Take a look at our Smarter Choices programme, we offer a selection of services and information.
* If you need to know about routes to work throughout the county, check out the Derbyshire Cycle route planner.
* Take a look at Cycling UK for tips on the positive steps you can take to start your journey towards becoming a cycle friendly employer.
* Check out Modeshift STARS who can help businesses free of charge to create their own sustainable travel plan. There's the opportunity to go for regional and national awards too.

You could win a prize as part of Cycle to Work Day. It's on Thursday 1 August and this year there's £7,000 worth of prizes up for grabs.

These include bikes worth over £2,500 each. Just saddle up and cycle to or from work any day from Saturday 27 July to Friday 2 August and then log your ride to be in with a chance of winning.

Have your say
There's still time for you to have your say on proposed changes to our residential care and day centres.

Help shape the future of council-run residential care and day centres for older people by filling in our online questionnaire.

The proposed changes include creating specialist dementia residential care centres alongside day and night respite opportunities to give carers a break.

Our public consultation into the proposals runs until Wednesday 7 August, and we're urging everyone to give their views.

Repairs to Bakewell footbridge
Bakewell's love locks footbridge – a place where people have left padlocks to commemorate loved ones or a special anniversary – will undergo a major maintenance refresh in September this year.

In recognition of the significance of the footbridge to many people, we're asking people to come forward now to remove their 'love lock' before the work is due to start.

So, if you have attached a love lock to the bridge or know of families and friends who have done so, please remove from the bridge before the repairs start on Monday, 16 September.

Cyber scam warning
Our Trading Standards team is warning people to be on the alert for scams following the recent CrowdStrike outage.

Businesses and consumers should be alert for scammers who are using the outage as a vehicle to take advantage.

Look out for suspicious emails or calls that pretend to be CrowdStrike or Microsoft Help and make sure you are dealing with official representatives from the company before downloading fixes.