It’s fair to say that in the last few years, the relationship between the local mountain biking community and Derbyshire County Council has not been where anybody would like it to be. We all know the history and ongoing tussles, but we keep on keeping on, hoping that as we continue to demonstrate how well a relationship can work that things may just improve.

With the local elections this summer came a change of leadership at Derbyshire County Council. With new people at the top, could we do something to reset the relationship and change the way we work together. Worth a try eh?

Following the election I* contacted the leader of the council – via Twitter – to see if we could look at how we work together and try to improve things. He responded positively and, following a few weeks of trying to line up diaries, yesterday I headed off to the council offices for a chat with the acting cabinet member for Highways at Derbyshire County Council.

And it was a good meeting.

I can’t go into too much detail about what we discussed – nor would I want to over promise anything – but rest assured that I’m confident that we’ll begin seeing some positive changes in how DCC works with us.

No cards were left off the table, nothing was glossed over. I had an incredibly frank and open discussion about how we’ve found ourselves in this situation, how we think things can be better, how we’d like to see things improve and what we as a community can do to help.

And yes, we did talk about Chapel-en-le-Frith BOAT 144 aka Rushup.

So, watch this space. I came out of the meeting feeling very positive about what we can do and in the coming weeks I should be able to share more. I’ll also be at the Peak District MTB AGM next week, so if you’d like to talk to me about it, join up and come along.

Oh, and it’s the third anniversary of the Rushup debacle on Monday – what a birthday present eh?

*To clear up any confusion – KoftheP (me) got in touch with DCC, but I happen to be on the PDMTB committee too so could draw on the strength of both groups in the conversation. It’s all pulling in the same direction!