John H writes:
Just to let you all know the Derbyshire Dales District Council has started (as of Wed Jan 5) to repair the section of footpath 21 from Croft Avenue to the squeeze stile by the electicity sub-station, between Croft Avenue and Church Walk.
Wednesday morning’s work involved four men, two lorries, a trailer, a van and a JCB digger – and they haven’t started laying tarmac yet! They are turning the former 0.9m wide footpath into a 1.8m wide ‘highway’ – as far as the squeeze stile. This work is being directed by Footpaths and Rights of Way.
I have pointed out to the workmen that the continuing footpath is 0.9m wide to the south of the squeeze stile and has no surface at all where it runs north through 9 Croft Avenue, but was informed that 1.8m was what they were told to provide.
I THINK THIS IS AN UTTER WASTE OF PUBLIC MONEY. A single man with a spade could have cut back the encroaching grass covering the underlying footpath in a few hours. The team working on this could have been more usefully employed filling in the holes in Alsop Road.
The Footpaths and Rights of Way officer has just returned my call, and has stated that 1.8m is the standard adopted wherever possible when they are reconstructing footpaths – whether it be in a conservation area or not, across public land or private land. He is also aware of the condition of the footpath alongside Smithy Close – are we going to see more tarmac there fairly soon?
These piecemeal ‘improvements’ are eroding the character of Parwich as creeping urbanisation. Do we realy need 1.8m footpaths, kerbstones, road signs and street lights, or are they being imposed upon us by County Hall bureaucrats wasting our money when it would be better spent repairing roads, providing care services and education?
As part of the Limestone Way, footpath 21, even in its ‘grassy’ state prior to this morning’s activity, was adequate for use by ramblers. As a local path, for use by village residents, it could have been better, but it did not need to be wider. In poor weather conditions, most villagers would choose to use alternative routes to avoid the hazards of the lower section of the footpath which still remain.
– John H.
PARWICH.ORG 
I sure wish they’d leave the footpath and use the tarmac to fill up all the pot holes that they filled up over the summer and which now are bigger then they were before!