Derbyshire estate walkabouts

Nottingham Road

• Meeting where and when: Flats on Nottingham Road, Belper, DE56 1JL. On 19 February at 10am - 12pm.
• What streets: Nottingham Road flats and around this area.

What happened

Overall we found the area to be in a good condition, but we did find a few issues that we've now raised with the relevant teams. This included some weeds, bushes and hedges that need cutting back, paved areas to be jet washed, parking space lines to be repainted, a communal door to be cleaned and repainted, and some fly-tipping that had been left.

Acorn Drive

• Meeting where and when: Flats on Acorn Drive, Belper, DE56 1EL. On 20 March at 10am - 12pm.
• What streets: Acorn Drive flats and around this area.

What happened

We found no issues with individual properties and the communal spaces were well maintained. There is still an issue with fly-tipping in the area, which we are actively trying to manage and encourage customers to report who is responsible to Futures. We will remove the fly-tipping in the drying area, and we will also sort the loose bricks on the corner of a wall in the communal area, remove outdated parking signs and asked for the removal of some road maintenance signs that had been left on a green area.

Highfields

• Meeting where and when: Highfields community centre, DE5 9SB. 26 March at 9:30am - 10:30am.
• What streets: Field Street, Highfields, Thomson Walk, Jessop Street.

What happened

We found issues with some gardens which we’re looking into, and fly-tipping, which has now been cleared.

Duffield

• Meeting where and when: Ecclesbourne Close, DE56 4GJ. On 4 March at 10am. 
• What streets: Ecclesbourne Close.

What happened

We found issues with parking and the communal bins so we will raise this with Amber Valley Borough Council. We've also had some feedback from a parish councillor about starting a coffee morning at the local community centre so we will discuss this with them.

Kew Crescent

• Meeting where and when: On the corner of Kew Crescent, Heanor, DE75 7HR. Wednesday 30 July at 11am.
• What streets Kew Crescent.

What happened 

Things seem to have generally improved since our last walkabout and lots of people were out and about thanks to the good weather. All the open cases we previously had relating to gardens have now been closed thanks to customers responding well to our requests for improvement. We did notice that weeks on the paths and roads have got a bit out of hand so that's something we need to pick up at a future visit.

Some long-term issues still need to be addressed by Severn Trent water, and we are speaking to the local farmer about fencing the area by the fields to keep off road bikes out. Thanks to everyone from the neighbourhood for getting behind our efforts to make improvements.

Park Court

• Meeting where and when: Park Court, Heanor, DE75 7DS. Wednesday 30 July at 3pm.
• What streets: Park Court.

What happened

The weather was good and it was great to see that the community had done some communal gardening in the area in the raised beds themselves. Work on the area of pathways and fencing around the community centre is in in progress and this will include making the fencing secure to the rear of the building. We will be planting shrubs once the contractors have finished on site. The community now want to set up a regular get together and that is well on its way to being sorted.

Marpool

• Meeting where and when: The Nutbrook Trail sign at the bottom of Buxton Avenue/Roper Avenue leading to Shipley Park, Heanor, DE75 7BY. Tuesday 21 October at 11am.
• What streets: Buxton Avenue, Avis Avenue, Owers Avenue.

Cotton Lace Close

• Meeting where and when: Cotton Lace Close, DE7 4RU. On Wednesday 30 July 2025 at 1:30pm.
• What streets: Cotton Lace Close.

What happened

Since our last visit we have upheld some complaints about parking and all the issues around garden complaints have been completed except one which is still in progress. We did see weeds coming up through blocked paving which needs addressing and we recognise this is a long term maintenance issue we need to keep on top of.

Openacre

• Meeting where and when: Ironville Community Centre, NG16 5QA. On 18 March at 10am.
• What streets: King William Street, Adelaide Walk, Waterside, Deepdale, Victoria Street, Queen Street.

What happened

We were joined by the police and community wardens from Amber Valley Borough Council for this walkabout. We walked around the streets for two hours, finding areas for us to focus on and talking to local residents. Everyone we spoke to was positive about the area they lived in and had no concerns.

We met the Friends of Ironville and Codnor Park community group who were caring for the green spaces around the park and met with the local shop keeper to discuss any concerns they had, but none were mentioned.

There was a small amount of fly-tipping and some overflowing communal bins which was immediately raised as a task by the wardens from Amber Valley Borough Council. There were a few areas with lots of litter, so we're going to arrange a community litter pick.

Andrews Drive

• Meeting where and when: Andrews Drive, NG16 4GG. 4 March at 10am.
• What streets: Andrews Drive.

What happened

We noticed in general the area was well maintained. We did find a couple of areas where we discovered a build up of litter and fly-tipped items.

We've arranged to visit again to pick up some of the litter and will arrange for the fly-tipping to be collected. We'll put up flyers about reporting fly-tipping to avoid further build up in the future.

All in all, we were really impressed with the area and individual homes and gardens.

Lovatt Drive

• Meeting where and when: Lovatt Drive at the grassed area, NG16 4FA. 4 July at 2pm.
• What streets: Lovatt Drive.

What happened

We had a great turnout from customers on the estate, including lots of children, which was great to see! Local PCSO James Colledge also attended, and we had feedback from local councillors who run their own regular litter picks in the area. Our grounds maintenance team have recently been involved in tidying up the area, trimming shrubs and overgrown bushes. 

Our community housing officer spoke to a number of customers who are pleased with how tidy the area is, and gave a special shout out to 12-year-old Cooper, who has been litter-picking with his neighbours regularly to keep his community clean!

We identified some fences near the canal that need to be repaired, which will be done by our team shortly.

Station Road

• Meeting where and when: Circuit Drive, NG10 2GH. 31 July at 10:30am.
• What streets: Station Road, Circuit Drive.

What happened

We've been made aware of some parking issues that we're looking into, and we're keeping an eye on the weeds coming up through the block paving. 

Weston Spot Close

• Meeting where and when: Weston Spot Close, DE5 8JR. On 5 March at 10:30am.
• What streets: Weston Spot Close, Oak Avenue, Willow Avenue, Ash Crescent, Woodside Avenue, Almond Avenue, PearTree Avenue, Sycamore Avenue, Hawthorne Avenue, Holly Avenue, Kirk Close, Poppy Fields.

What happened

We found almost all of the streets to be in good condition but we did find fly-tipping in some areas which we have reported.

Peveril Court

• Meeting where and when: Peveril Court, DE5 3NR. On 5 March at 12pm.
• What streets: Peveril Court, Norman Road, Slack Lane, Rowan Avenue, Chestnut Avenue, Poplar Avenue, Cedar Avenue, Laurel Avenue, Field Terrace.

What happened

We found most of the streets to be in good condition but we did find fly-tipping, broken benches and branch cuttings which we have raised with our teams to collect and repair.

Steeple Drive

• Meeting where and when: Church Farm Medical Centre Car Park, DE5 3TH. On 19 March at 10:30am. 
• What streets: Bishops Close, Peasehill Road, Lamb Crescent, Greenhill Avenue, Fearn Avenue, Wright Avenue, Park Avenue, Porterhouse Road, Victory Avenue, Broadway Court.

What happened

Overall the area was in a good condition, but we did find some abandoned vehicles and properties with items on the front garden that we've asked them to remove. We also found fly-tipping in two communal areas which we'll remove and contact the nearby customers about.

Oak Tree Close

• Meeting where and when: Oak tree Close, DE5 3WH. On 1 July at 2pm.
• What streets: Oak tree Close. 

What happened

As part of ASB Awareness Week, we took part in a litter pick with the community during our estate walkabout. Overall the area was good but we found that there was some damaged paving slabs which have now been repaired. We also found a bag of garden waste which has been reported for collection. 

Thurston Avenue

• Meeting where and when: The corner of Stanley Street, DE55 4JW. 27 February at 2pm.
  What streets: Thurston Avenue, Scott Drive, Everest Drive, Haston Drive, Bonnington Drive, Burke Drive.

What happened

The area was mainly in a good condition, however there was fly-tipping in two areas and rubbish in a couple of gardens, so we've given two weeks' notices to the people responsible to clear all of this. Some areas had overgrown brambles, but our grounds maintenance team were with us who will be able to sort this.

We also spoke to residents about the seating area on Thurston Avenue to let them know we're looking at revamping the area and replace the broken slabs.

Hedley Close

• Meeting where and when: Castle Drive community centre, DE55 4LN. 17 April at 10:30am.
• What streets: Hedley Close, Peterway, Riber Avenue, Douglas Road, Castle Drive, George Street.

What happened

Overall the streets we visited were managed well with the exception of a few properties with overgrown gardens or rubbish that needed removing - we managed to speak to the majority of these customers (the rest we posted a card through their door) and they were more than happy with a two week period to resolve.

There were some footpaths and flower beds that need weeding which we've raised with our grounds maintenance team. Some of the paths were owned by Amber Valley Borough Council so we've also made them aware.

A resident raised some concerns about garages that he felt were moving in the ground so we will also speak to the relevant teams about this too.