THE SHELL TROPHY - FRONT GARDEN COMPETITION

At Monday evening's Parish Council meeting, Cllr Mike Dudley-Jones announced the winners of this year's Front Garden Competition. As reported in the Parish Council newsletter, the competition was free to enter to anyone with a garden visible from the public highway. Judging was carried out by Cllr Mike Dudley-Jones, Alderley Edge in Bloom volunteer Bev Chapman and myself. The results were as follows:

Winner - 27 Heywood Road (Mr & Mrs Annie McLelland)
Highly Commended - 6 Beech Close (Mr Ray Mottram)
Highly Commended - 8 Orchard Green (Mr & Mrs Caroline Francis)

The winners and runners up will be presented with their awards at the Annual Village Show on 1st September at the Festival Hall.

HEYES LANE RESURFACING CONFIRMED

The 2018/19 Highways Investment Programme has finally (four months into the financial year) been published. I am delighted to confirm that Heyes Lane has been included in this year's programme for complete resurfacing, from the junction with Moss Road (Grantham’s), to the unmade lay-by (known as Mole End). I have been campaigning for this for almost exactly two years and it is great to get the news we have all been waiting for, although of course it would have been preferable to have the whole length of Heyes Lane resurfaced. The cost of the work was estimated in the summer of 2016 at just over £100,000, but to put the news in context, it is one of only 12 roads across Cheshire East that have been included in this year's programme for full resurfacing. As the news has only just been announced, I cannot yet give a timetable for the work, but will provide everyone with an update as soon as possible.

ALDERLEY EDGE REFLECTS - EVENT

This Thursday afternoon, an event is taking place at Alderley Edge Library to mark the centenary of the end of World War I. Aimed at young people aged 7+, this event is free to attend and will involve writing letters and telegrams to send back to solidiers in 1918, via the Keeping Watch portal. The event will be taking place on Thursday 16th August between 2pm - 4pm and our library staff have asked me to promote it via my blog, which I am very happy to do. This is one of a series of special events that the staff have arranged this summer and I would encourage as many residents as are able, to go along and support them and our library, which continues to be a valuable community resource.

MOTTRAM ROAD SET FOR CARRIAGEWAY PATCHING

I am pleased to confirm that Mottram Road has been included in the 2018/19 carriageway patching programme. Patching work will be carried out later in the year, along the length of Mottram Road from Alderley Edge into Mottram St Andrew and up to the point where Alderley Road starts. As this news has only just been announced, I will give an update on the likely timescale for the work once I receive more information. Further details of the 2018/19 Capital Programme will be announced shortly.

RAILWAY BRIDGE CLOSURE - UPDATE

I would like to update residents and businesses with work on the railway bridge. Unfortunately,  engineers have discovered a cavity running under the footpath, which appears to be linked to a water pipe running parallel to the kerb. The pipe, installed in 1937 was apparently the subject of a burst back in 2002. From early indications, it would appear that the egress of water over time has washed away the earth, leaving a sink hole underneath the road and footpath falling away to the adjacent car park. On the other side of the carriageway, a steel gas pipe has been discovered (which is leaking); engineers from British Gas are currently drilling pilot holes to determine the point of egress.

Naturally, this is likely to lead to the bridge remaining closed for a significantly longer period than was first envisaged. Unfortunately, I have received a number of reports of abuse towards the engineers and whilst I understand that the situation may be frustrating, it is better that this problem was identified whilst the bridge was closed to vehicles, rather than the alternative which could of course have had disastrous consequences. I would ask everyone to join me in supporting the engineers to carry out their work and allowing them to get on with the job in hand (albeit one which is now significantly more complex than was first envisaged).

In the meantime, as Davey Lane is being used an unofficial diversion route, I have asked CE Highways to put out some "Slow Down" signs to advise drivers, as well as some "Businesses Open as Usual" signs to help the village traders during this prolonged closure. I will provide residents and businesses with regular updates, as and when I am able to.

SPEEDWATCH RESULTS - WEDS 1ST AUGUST

On Wednesday 1st August, I joined volunteers from our Community Speedwatch team. In response to concerns from residents, we began the session on Trafford Road (by the junction with Stamford Road); however, during half an hour we did not record a single vehicle speeding along this section. We therefore decided to spend the second half an hour on Heyes Lane (next to the allotments) and during this time we recorded ten vehicles exceeding the speed threshold. Two of the vehicles were travelling at 40mph or over and the highest recorded speed was 43mph. We are still looking for more volunteers to help run these sessions, so if you are able to give up an hour a month, please let me know.