NEW NOTICEBOARD - WELCOME TO ALDERLEY EDGE PARK

Alderley Edge Parish Council has recently placed an order for a new noticeboard at the village park. This is to replace the existing noticeboard adjacent to the children's play area, which has been in situ for many years. Much of the wooden surround is in an advanced stage of decay and members of the Parish Council felt that it was time for a facelift.

The new noticeboard is being supplied by the Parish Noticeboard Company and will be of a similar design as the noticeboard that was installed on The Parade (outside Waitrose) in 2017. The only difference will be that the new noticeboard will have two panels rather than three and will display the words "Welcome to Alderley Edge Park" at the top.

The new noticeboard is being introduced as part of a package of improvements to the park, which were consulted on at the beginning of this year. The noticeboard will carry information about the park, as well as local events and anyone wishing to display a flyer will be able to do so by contacting the Parish Clerk (clerk@alderleyedge-pc.gov.uk) or calling in at the Festival Hall.

LONDON ROAD - PARTIAL CLOSURE FRIDAY 22ND MAY - UPDATED

I would like to advise all residents and businesses that a partial closure of London Road is planned for Friday 22nd May. The closure, which will apply to the section from the junction with Heyes Lane to the junction with Clifton Street is expected to take place between 9.30am and 3.30pm.

The closure is to enable the removal and upgrade of the pelican crossing on London Road, at the top of the steps from Waitrose Car Park and will involve relaying cables under the road bed, replacement of the signal controller and installation of new lighting and columns.

The work is being carried out by Cheshire East Highways as part of their annual road maintenance programme. It is likely that the footpath adjacent to the car park steps will also be closed at this time. Please take extra care if you are in the area and follow any diversions that are in operation.

UPDATE - I have now been advised that the crossing towards the other end of London Road (near Martin's newsagents) will also be upgraded and that this work will take place on Monday 18th May. All work to this crossing will be carried out from the footpath and the road will remain open.

CHESHIRE EAST HIGHWAYS TRIBUTE TO NHS STAFF

The Cheshire East Council Highways team, alongside their partners, have painted symbols of thanks outside two local NHS hospitals at Macclesfield and at Leighton, Crewe. These are a mark of appreciation for the NHS frontline staff for all their hard work during this difficult and demanding time. The teams installed the artwork during time out from their essential day-to-day duties.

The opportunity to do this, to applaud the efforts of each and every healthcare professional was one that the team didn’t want to miss and was made possible during the quieter period on the roads due to the current lockdown. The work was carried out on Thursday 16th April and timed-in with our weekly clap for the carers. 

This work has been shared on Cheshire East Council’s social media pages, where residents and other local organisations have joined the council to spread their messages of thanks to all the NHS staff. It is hoped that the artwork will brighten the days of all those staff, symbolise everyone’s gratitude and remind them that we are #AllInThisTogether

COVID-19: SHIELDING HUBS & COUNCIL MEETINGS

Cheshire East Council has now received further guidance from central government with respect to Shielding Hubs and we are working through the potential volume of deliveries we would have responsibility for. Our understanding is that our role will be to provide support to any individual in need of urgent support, where the national arrangements have failed to provide the necessary help.  Tomorrow, we expect to be able to provide further details on how these Shielding Hubs will work in practice, but the likelihood is that there will be two hubs (one in the north of the borough and the other one in the south of the borough).

During the current climate and to ensure compliance with government guidance, Cheshire East Council has taken the decision to cancel all committees and meetings of Council (including the Annual Council Meeting scheduled for Wednesday 13th May). At the current time, the Corona Virus Bill is passing through parliament as a result of which we expect legislation to be enacted that will enable council meetings to take place online, with members able to vote on items remotely (without being in the room). Pending this, we are investigating various ICT solutions that would enable us to hold future meetings online.  

SINKHOLE ON TRAFFORD ROAD

A number of residents have been contacting me to ask what is happening with the sinkhole which appeared a few weeks ago. I have followed this up with engineers from Cheshire East Highways, who have confirmed that as the cause of the problem is a leaking drain the responsibility for resolving it has now been passed on to United Utilities.

The traffic signals which had originally been put in place by Cheshire East Highways are to be removed once United Utilities arrive on site. Officers from Cheshire East Highways are pressing the utilities company to begin work as soon as possible; in the meantime, motorists and pedestrians are advised to take extra care in this area of the village

 

COMMUNITY SPEEDWATCH - BROOK LANE

On Thursday 27th February I joined local residents and volunteers from our Community Speedwatch team. On this occasion we carried out a monitoring session on Brook Lane and the results were as follows:

- number of vehicles exceeding the speed threshold (30)
- number of vehicles exceeding 40mph (10)
- highest recorded speed (48mph)
- average speed of all vehicles (39mph)

We are always keen to welcome new volunteers to our group. If any resident would like to join us, please send me an email (craig.browne@cheshireeast.gov.uk).