SINKHOLE UPDATE - LONDON RD TO BE CLOSED

I have spoken to Dave Wilson (UU Site Manager) this morning and he has confirmed to me that they are 99% certain that the cause is a sewer collapse; however, investigations will continue over the course of the weekend. Unfortunately, there will need to be a complete closure of London Road, in both directions, from the entrance to the Waitrose Car Park, back up to the junction with Heyes Lane and the initial estimate is that this road closure will be in place for two weeks. I have made the contractors aware of the May Fair Parade on Saturday and they have said that they will open the Wienholt’s side of the road for pedestrian and light vehicle access to allow the parade to go ahead.

LED STREET LIGHTING UPGRADE

With financial assistance from the European Local Energy Assistance (ELENA) programme, Cheshire East Council is currently investing in more energy-efficient street lighting across the borough, by upgrading to Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology. During the period from May to August, Cheshire East Highways will be replacing all lanterns and (where necessary) some columns on the following roads across Alderley Edge:

Aldford Place, Oakhurst Chase, Annis Close, Crescent Road, Duke Street, Gail Close, Moss Rose, South Bank Close, Arderne Place, Brown Street, George Street, Green Street, Massey Street, Orme Street, South Grove, South Street, Beaufort Close, Devonshire Drive, Marlborough Avenue, Beech Close, Beech Road, Elm Crescent, Elmfield Road, Heywood Close, Heywood Road, Maple Road, Wood Gardens, Beech Cottages, Carlisle Street, Lynton Lane, Netherfields, Thurston Green, Beechfield Road, West Bank, Blackshaw Lane, Downesway, Meddings Close, Brook Lane, Chapel Road, Orchard Green, Stevens Street, The Avenue, Chelford Road, Chorley Hall Lane, Church Lane, Davey Lane, Lydiat Lane, Clifton Street, Stamford Road, Talbot Road, Eaton Drive, Haddon Close, Meadow Brow, Meadscroft Drive, Sutton Road, Fairbourne Avenue, Oakfield Close, Oakfield Road, The Circuit, Grasmere Road, Redesmere Drive, Thirlmere Close, Windermere Drive, Greystoke Drive, Heyes Lane, Macclesfield Road, Moss Lane, Moss Road, Mottram Road, Russet Way, Brook Lane, Swiss Hill, Tempest Road, Underwood Road, Trafford Road, West Street, Whitebarn Road, Wilton Crescent, Woodbrook Road.

STRUCTURAL PATCHING - OAKFIELD ROAD/TRAFFORD ROAD

I am pleased to confirm that Level 2 Structural Patching has been programmed for Wednesday 9th May on Oakfield Road (opposite the junction with Crescent Road) and Trafford Road (opposite the junction with Stamford Road). This is in response to my request to CE Highways earlier this year. As always, I would like to thank officers from CE Highways for responding positively to my request. Please take extra care if you are in the area on Wednesday and allow extra time for your journey.

SPEEDWATCH RESULTS - THURSDAY 3RD MAY

On Thursday afternoon, I joined local residents and volunteers on Congleton Road (close to the junction with Whitebarn Road) to carry out another community speedwatch session. On this occasion, we were also joined by our new PCSO, Anna Jenkinson. At our previous session at this location, on Thursday 5th April, we recorded a speeding vehicle every 97 seconds; however, on this occasion we recorded only 12 vehicles exceeding the speed limit, which suggests that our campaign to raise awareness may be starting to have some impact. The results in detail were:

- 8 vehicles travelling at 30+mph, with a highest recorded speed of 38mph
- 3 vehicles travelling at 40+mph, with a highest recorded speed of 47mph
- 1 vehicle travelling at 50+mph, with a highest recorded speed of 51mph
- average speed of all recorded vehicles was 41mph

Our next sessions will be on Thursday 10th May at 11am and Thursday 24th May at 7am!

PLANNED ROADWORKS - MAY 2018

On behalf of Cheshire East Highways, I would like to advise residents of planned roadworks at the following locations over the next couple of weeks:

Brook Lane (outside No.45) - BT are installing a 7m duct to provide link to existing box. Traffic management (give & take) will be in place between 7th-10th May.

Macclesfield Road (outside the property known as “Edgecroft”) - Electricity North West are carrying out excavation work in the footway. Two way traffic signals will be in place between 10th-16th May.

Macclesfield Road (outside the property known as “Edgecroft”) - United Utilities are installing a new water supply connection. Two-way traffic signals will be in place between 19th-20th May.

Please be aware that there may be traffic disruption and allow extra time for your journey on these dates.

ANNUAL PARISH MEETING (MY REPORT)

It was great to be joined on Monday evening at the Festival Hall, by almost 50 residents and 14 community groups, to hear about the excellent work everyone has been doing in our village over the last twelve months. I am also pleased to provide (below) a transcript of my Ward Councillor's report, for the benefit of any residents who were not able to be present in person at the meeting.

"Good evening everyone! It would be remiss of me not to begin by mentioning our library and the successful campaign to retain it over the last few months. I am sure that the tremendous response from so many residents, coupled with the petition led by Alice & Iris from the Primary School, played a huge part in helping Cheshire East to think again. The campaign brought to my mind a quote from the C19th philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie, “there is no such cradle of democracy as the free public library; this republic of letters, where neither rank, office, nor wealth receives the slightest consideration. A library outranks any other one thing that a community can do to benefit its people, it is a never ending spring in the desert.” We must all now, as a community, come together and use the library as  often as we can, to make sure that what we have achieved together does not simply become a temporary stay of execution.

Looking back over the last twelve months, we have also seen a lot of activity in terms of Highways improvements. Hough Lane & Brook Lane have benefitted from surface treatment, whilst the junction of Brook Lane & Wilmslow Road has, after a long hard fight, finally been resurfaced within the last couple of months. The footpaths on Oakfield Road, Beech Close and Moss Road have been resurfaced, whilst I have also reported 110 potholes, 68 defective streetlights and 9 blocked gullies. Assessments have been carried out into the viability of a zebra crossing on Ryleys Lane, as well as into the installation of a second footpath over the railway bridge on London Road; unfortunately, both assessments concluded that neither scheme can go ahead. A further proposal for a one-way system on Chorley Hall Lane has been assessed and amended to traffic lights instead. I’m pleased to say that this will now enable two-way traffic, which was something that a lot of residents had voiced concerns to me about.

We have put forward fully costed and independently assessed options for the creation of three new car parks in the village, including 50 spaces at Whitehall Meadow (opposite Horseshoe Farm), 44 spaces at Heyes Lane Allotments and 35 extra spaces at Ryleys Lane; however, none of these options can be progressed further unless or until changes are made to the designation of existing greenbelt land around Alderley Edge; this is dependent upon the Cheshire East Local Plan (Part 2). Due in part to issues at Cheshire East that have been well-documented, the Local Plan is not expected to be signed off until Summer 2019 at the earliest. Until then, the hands of the current Parish Council and indeed the next Parish Council, will remain tied; so, for the time being, incremental gains in on-street parking remain our only option.

Looking forward to the next twelve months, we still await the details of CE Highways’ Capital Programme for 2018/19; however, working closely with officers, I have ensured that the following projects have been put forward for priority consideration: Heyes Lane & Wilmslow Road (resurfacing), Oakfield Road & Trafford Road (patching) and Stevens Street, Moss Lane & West Street for footpath resurfacing. In March, the Wilmslow Area Highways Group approved funding for the introduction of a one-way system on West Street, in order to improve the safety of the junction of West Street & South Street. The plans for this project should be available shortly and I will share them via my blog. In addition, the Parish Council will be paying for the creation of some additional on-street parking bays on Heyes Lane.

The greatest challenge we are likely to face as a community over the next twelve months will be in the form of Part 2 of the Cheshire East Local Plan (snappily entitled the Site Allocations Development Policies Document, or SADPD for short). During August/September, CEC will be launching a public consultation on its draft SADPD, which will set out its preferred options for the location of new housing around Alderley Edge between 2019 and 2030. It is likely that we will be asked to accommodate around 100 new homes over this period and not only the Parish Council, but also the Neighbourhood Plan team and all of us as a community will have a very important role to play in determining the kind of development we see. I am very clear that no single part of the village should either bear all the burden of the new development, nor all the benefits of the consequential infrastructure investment, but that these should be shared as fairly and as evenly as possible; however, I will need your support with this.

Could I finish by thanking everyone for the support they have given me over the last twelve months and I look forward to continuing to serve you to the best of my ability over the final twelve months of my current term of office."