CALL FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST - PARK REFRESHMENT FACILITY

As I previously reported in 2020, Cheshire East Council is seeking expressions of interest for the provision of a mobile refreshment facility in Alderley Edge Park. This is a project that I have been seeking to bring to fruition for several months, following a previous call for tenders last summer. On that occasion, the successful tenderer pulled out as it became clear that they were seeking to provide a permanent facility.

Contracts will be provisionally let from 1st June 2021 and be valid for up to three years. Further details can be found on Cheshire East Council's website https://www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/leisure,_culture_and_tourism/parks_and_gardens/parks-commercial-opportunities.aspx with a closing date for expressions of interest by 4pm on Friday 7th May.

Interested parties should submit their quotation and further details by email to: parks@ansa.co.uk 

I would like to thank ANSA (Parks Maintenance) for bringing this commercial opportunity forward in line with my request, as I am sure a mobile refreshment facility will be a great addition to the park and is something that will be welcomed by many residents and visitors. I am also pleased that this will also enable the public toilets next to the bowling hut to be re-opened, as part of the contract.

Please could I add that whilst I am very supportive of this opportunity, I will not have any direct involvement in the contracting process and that interested parties should take up any specific queries they may have directly with ANSA. I look forward to welcoming the successful contractor to our village park in the near future.

COMMUNITY SPEEDWATCH GROUP RESTARTS

On Thursday 8th April I was pleased to join Parish Cllrs Bev Chapman, Karen Robinson and local volunteers from our Community Speedwatch Group. This was the first time we have been able to meet since October and it was good to be together again (socially distanced, of course). 

For our first session of 2021 we were positioned at the top of Congleton Road, just short of the junction with Whitebarn Road. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the pandemic, this was one of our quieter sessions and we recorded just 12 vehicles exceeding the speed threshold. The full results were as follows:

10 vehicles speeding but travelling under 40mph

2 vehicles speeding and travelling over 40mph

The average speed of all vehicles was 37.7mph

We will be carrying out our next session in the near future. For the time being, in line with government regulations, we are limited to just six volunteers. As we hopefully continue to follow the roadmap out of the pandemic, we will be purchasing a second speed gun which will enable us to operate with more volunteers split across two groups.

PROPOSED TREE WORKS IN THE PLAYING FIELDS

Visitors to the Playing Fields (Ryleys Lane Park) will no doubt have noticed the appearance of some orange fencing over recent days. This is in preparation for some tree works to be undertaken over the course of the next week or so. The proposed works include:

Tree ref. 1518 (near the children's play area) - all primary branches are exhibiting a fungus known as innonotus hispidus (common name "shaggy bracket") and need to be topped back to a pollard point; however, the main trunk shows no sign of decay from ground level to primary furcation and has been assessed as retainable.

Tree ref. 1519 (near to the boundary with the railway line) - branches to be reduced no more than 3m from branch tips to reduce wind load moving, culminating in a reduction of no more than 20% of existing individual branch crown. Tree to be retained, as branches still have the ability to strengthen fibres around areas of dysfunction.

Tree ref. 1621 (adjacent to fence over the railway bridge) - tree has kretzschmaria deusta fungus (common name "brittle cinder") throughout the base and lower trunk. The extent of decay is believed to extend to the primary branches within the tree canopy; therefore this tree is incapable of being retained and must be felled in the interests of public safety.

I would like to thank residents for their patience and understanding in avoiding the immediate area whilst these works are being carried out. Cheshire East Council is responsible for more than 150,000 trees within highways verges alone (not including those in public parks) and therefore the task of assessing their continued vitality and potential risk to public safety is a particularly challenging one.

HIGHWAYS WORKS ON ALDERLEY ROAD CYCLEWAY PROGRESSING

Work towards the completion of a new cycle way connecting Wilmslow with Alderley Edge is progressing well, with completion due towards the end of April. The £1m scheme is being funded with the help of a £900,000 grant from the Local Growth Fund and a £100,000 match-funding investment from Cheshire East Council.

Alderley Road has recently re-opened to vehicles travelling towards Alderley Edge, as 75% of the new kerbstones have now been installed, whilst footway construction and resurfacing is continuing. This week, a raised carriageway table is expected to be installed close to the junction with Fulshaw Park South, with further lining works on Alderley Road.

The project has also provided the opportunity for some much-needed carriageway resurfacing to be carried out during the period when Station Road and Alderley Road have been closed (thereby saving on legal costs associated with road closures). Carriageway resurfacing has also been carried out close to the Kings Arms Public House.

There have been some minor delays to 12-week build programme, caused partly by the pandemic and partly by bad weather earlier in the year; however, the new route which will connect up with Wilmslow High School and Wilmslow Railway Station is expected to open next month.

POLICE AWARD FOR COMMUNITY SPEEDWATCH GROUP

I am delighted to announce that our Community Speedwatch Team has been awarded a Community Police Grant of £407.45 from the Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner. The grant is being received on the group's behalf by Alderley Edge Parish Council and will be used to support the work of our Community Speedwatch volunteers, as well as helping to pay for essential equipment including:

- increased signage and awareness of Alderley Edge as a Community Speedwatch area

- a second "speed gun" to help the volunteers carry out sessions at more locations

- high-vis jackets for our Community Speedwatch volunteers

On hearing the news, our Community Speedwatch Co-ordinator and local resident Margaret Bilsborough commented "During the pandemic we have had to curtail our regular Community Speedwatch activities, but we are grateful for this Community Police Grant which will help to raise awareness of our activities, as well as providing extra equipment for our volunteers. We are looking forward to starting our sessions again, as soon as it is safe and legal to do so".

The Parish Council would like to record its thanks to our local PCSO, Callum Edwards, who put the group forward for an award. Responding to the grant announcement, Callum added "Alderley Edge Community Speedwatch has been successful in its application to Police & Crime Commissioner David Keane's Community Police Fund to deliver a project to make Alderley Edge Safer. I am proud to have played a part in making this possible".  

(photograph taken before the pandemic, with previous PCSO Anna Jenkinson)

GULLY EMPTYING - PLEASE AVOID KERBSIDE PARKING

Cheshire East Highways continues to carry out annual gully-emptying on primary routes; however, Alderley Edge Parish Council has decided to supplement this programme, enabling gullies to be emptied on a number of residential streets across the village.

Government funding paid to local authorities for highways maintenance has fallen in real terms over the last few years, meaning that there are a number of non-primary routes where there is little prospect of gullies ever being emptied by Cheshire East Council.

The Parish Council has compiled a list of "Secondary Routes" and engaged with a private company (UBU Sweepers, who carry all the appropriate licences and comply with the Council's exacting environmental standards) to carry out the work on its behalf.

"Secondary Routes" include: Davey Lane, Elmfield Road, Oakfield Road, Heywood Road, Moss Road, Moss Lane, Chorley Hall Lane, Trafford Road and South Street. If time allows, Devonshire Drive, Beaufort Close, Marlborough Avenue, Talbot Road & Stamford Road will also be included.

We are conscious that many residents are concerned, particularly in the light of recent heavy rainfall and therefore the Parish Council has decided to step in. Gully-emptying vehicles will be in the village on Monday 1st and Tuesday 2nd February.

We are asking residents and visitors to Alderley Edge to assist with the operation, by remembering not to park their vehicles on any of the above streets on Monday or Tuesday next week. The Parish Council will review this operation and if successful, potentially look to extend it to other streets in future.