MACCLESFIELD ROAD TO CLOSE FOR CARRIAGEWAY REPAIRS

As I recently reported, Macclesfield Road has been included in this year's highways capital programme for Level 2 structural patching (similar works are currently being carried out on Knutsford Road between the junction with Brook Lane and the Parish Boundary with Lindow). 

Repairs to Macclesfield Road have been scheduled over a six-day period, starting on Friday 9th July through until Thursday 15th July. Whilst a road closure will be in place on these days, between the hours of 09.30 and 16.30 access for residents will be retained wherever possible.

Whilst a reduction in funding of £3.9m (21%) from central government this year has meant that the council is able to carry out repairs on fewer roads than we would have wished, I am pleased that an additional investment of £3m by Cheshire East Council has resulted in us being able to prioritise at least two key access points into Alderley Edge.

I would like to express my thanks to engineers from Cheshire East Highways for responding positively to my requests for road repairs and for scheduling Knutsford Road and Macclesfield Road early in the programme of works for this year. Please take care if you are in the area and if you need to travel to Over Alderley or Macclesfield during the planned works, please allow extra time for your journey.

INSPECTOR DISMISSES APPEAL ON HEYES LANE PLANNING APPLICATION

A planning application (19/0684M) to build six properties on land off Heyes Lane has been dismissed by the Planning Inspectorate. Having originally been refused permission at Cheshire East Council's Northern Planning Committee last November on the Chair's casting vote (there were four votes in favour of refusal, four against and four abstentions), the applicant exercised their right of appeal to the inspector. The original grounds for refusal were:

- that insufficient pedestrian access would exist and the proposal would therefore be contrary to saved Policy DC6 of the Macclesfield Borough Local Plan and Policies SE1 and CO1 of the Cheshire East Local Plan Strategy; and 

- that the proposed development would result in an overdevelopment of the site which would undermine the visual amenity of the area contrary to Policies SE1 and SD2 of the Cheshire East Local Plan Strategy and saved Policy DC41 of the Macclesfield Borough Local Plan.

The inspector did not agree that pedestrian access would be insufficient, or that the proposals would represent over-development; however, he did identify the green verge to the eastern side of Heyes Lane (between Buckhorn Street and The Circuit) as being intrinsic to the character and appearance of the area and that its loss to accommodate the proposed development would be contrary to Policy AE3 of the Alderley Edge Neighbourhood Plan and Policy SD1 of the Cheshire East Local Plan Strategy.

This is the first application to be considered by the Appeal Inspectorate since the Alderley Edge Neighbourhood Plan was overwhelmingly approved by the local community at a referendum on 6th May. The result is both a vindication of the decision made at Northern Planning Committee on 4th November 2020 and of the efforts of the many volunteer residents and Parish Councillors who worked so hard to ensure that the Neighbourhood Plan was in place and approved in time.

KNUTSFORD ROAD TO CLOSE FOR CARRIAGEWAY PATCHING

As I recently reported, Knutsford Road has been included in this year's road maintenance programme and I can now confirm that carriageway patching works will be carried out on Tuesday 22nd & Wednesday 23rd June. A temporary road closure will be in place between 08.00 and 17.00 on both days, although every effort will be made to ensure access to properties and businesses at all times.

Cheshire East Council is investing an additional £3m in highways maintenance this year (including flood mitigation measures); however, a reduction in funding from the Dept for Transport of £3.9m has effectively wiped out the impact of the investment we are making locally and inevitably means that many of the roads we would have wished to repair, will continue to deteriorate.

I am of course delighted that Knutsford Road and Macclesfield Road are both going to benefit from repair works this year. We have also introduced a £4,200 highways budget for each Ward Councillor this year and I will be using my budget to pay for some minor repairs on Eaton Drive and Stevens Street, as well as some new road markings on West Street, Macclesfield Road & Wilmslow Road.

A spokesperson for Cheshire East Highways added "We aim to minimise disruption to local residents and business ownwers whilst we deliver these improvements. We will make every effort to maintain vehicular access to your property or business; however, it is inevitable that some inconvenience will occur and there may be periods of time when point of entry will vary."

COMMUNITY SPEEDWATCH RESULTS - TUESDAY 1ST JUNE

On Tuesday 1st June, Parish Cllr Karen Robinson & I joined local residents and volunteers from our Community Speedwatch Team, to carry out a one-hour session on Brook Lane. Due to the pandemic, this was only our second session of 2021 and with it being half-term week, we had expected this to be one of our quieter sessions; however, we still recorded twenty one vehicles exceeding the speed threshold.

The results of our session in full were:
- total number of vehicles exceeding the speed threshold but under 40 mph (16)

- total number of vehicles exceeding the speed threshold travelling faster than 40 mph (5)

- the highest recorded speed on this occasion was 46 mph

The Parish Council has recently placed an order for some "Community Speedwatch" signs, which we hope will help to enhance recognition of the work our team of volunteers are doing on our behalf, as well as encouraging more drivers to stick within the speed limit. We have also purchased a second speed radar gun, which will enable us to have two teams of volunteers operating at the same time in future.

As always, we continue to look to local residents to support our team of volunteers and if you feel you can spare an hour a month to help out, please do get in touch with me (craig.browne@cheshireeast.gov.uk).

CCTV CONTROL ROOM STATS (QUARTER 4, 2020)

I am pleased to publish the statistics for the CCTV Control Room for the final three months of 2020. Understandably, given the pandemic, the number of activations was slightly lower during Q4 2020 than during the same period for the previous year; however, there were 38 incidents in total during October, November and December 2020.

As a reminder, the Control Room is based at Macclesfield Town Hall and operated by Cheshire East Council (Alderley Edge Parish Council provides funding of £6,000 per annum towards the cost of the service and helping our village to feel more secure). The vast majority of the team's work over the period was in assisting police to search for missing or wanted persons.

The CCTV system was also used to successfully help police track down an individual who had been seen acting suspiciously within the village centre; the individual was apprehended, found to be in possession of a quantity of a controlled drug and taken to Macclesfield Police Station for questioning. Following reports of an individual attempting to withdraw funds from a bank account on behalf of someone else, police were alerted and the CCTV was used to help track down the individual as well as a suspect vehicle nearby. The CCTV was able to identify the registration number, allowing police carry out a vehicle check.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Council Officers at the CCTV Control Room for their diligence over this period as well as members of our local policing team. Not every activation will result in a conviction or even an arrest; however, it is good to have the assurance that the system is in place and operating to protect the security of local residents, businesses and legitimate visitors to our village.