COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS RECORD FALL IN SPEEDING MOTORISTS

 

On Thursday 10th September, I joined local residents and volunteers from our Community Speedwatch Team. On this occasion we stationed ourselves on Brook Lane (on the approach to the village and the school safety zone around Alderley Edge School for Girls).

Fortunately we had one of our quietest sessions on record at this location, with only 16 vehicles found to be exceeding the speed threshold over the course of an hour. This is a marked reduction in the number we have previously recorded on Brook Lane and follows a number of targeted interventions by Cheshire Police.

The average speed of all recorded vehicles was 38.5 mph. We are always keen to welcome new volunteers to our team, as the more volunteers we have the more sessions we will be able to run. If you can spare an hour a month to help out, please drop me an email or leave a message below with your details.

PARISH COUNCIL TO INVEST IN NEW LITTER BINS

 

   

On Saturday 12th September I joined residents and volunteers from the Alderley Edge in Bloom group, carrying out litter picking in the park and surrounding streets. We collected at least 7 bags of rubbish, but what was particularly noticeable (apart from the number of cigarette butts, which have long been a problem) was the number of discarded face masks. 

Face masks are potential carriers of the coronavirus, given that people will have been breathing (and potentially coughing and sneezing) into them and with the number of covid-19 cases continuing to rise, both locally and nationally, it was surprising to find so many used face masks just left in an area where young children are particularly likely to pick them up.

To assist, the Parish Council has approved the purchase of two new litter bins, which have now been placed on order; one will be positioned by the bus stop on Wilmslow Road (this is following a recent request from the Alderley Edge in Bloom Group) and the other in the park. These will be funded using a grant provided by Cheshire East Council late last year.

COMMUNITY SPEEDWATCH TEAM RETURNS FOLLOWING LOCKDOWN

On Thursday 27th August I joined our local Community Speedwatch volunteers on Ryleys Lane - this was the first session the group have been able to carry out since the pandemic began; however, we decided that it would be appropriate for the group to re-start, provided social distancing guidelines could be strictly followed.

As it turned out, we had to cut the session short due to heavy rain; however, between 3.00 - 3.45pm we recorded a total of 36 vehicles exceeding the speed threshold at this location. Of those vehicles recorded, 24 were speeding at or below 39mph and a further 12 were travelling faster than 40mph, with a top speed of 47mph.

The figures are particularly concerning as Ryleys Lane is of course a school safety zone. I am continuing to work with Cheshire East Highways with a view to introducing a permanent 20mph zone with supporting traffic calming infrastructure in this area of the village. Further details will follow over the course of the next few weeks.

ALDERLEY EDGE LIBRARY TO RE-OPEN

I am pleased to announce that Alderley Edge library is to re-open on a phased basis from Tuesday 1st September. The library has been closed since the early stages of the pandemic and was unable to re-open along with other libraries in Cheshire East due to its size and ability to respect social distancing.

The library will initially open on Tuesdays only, as there are currently additional demands on staff (due to Covid-19) to help monitor social distancing at other libraries, but also to ensure that all returned books are appropriately cleaned down and not made available for re-loan within a 72-hour period.

Over a period of time the library opening hours will be scaled back up to where they were before the pandemic; however, it is currently impossible to say how long this will take. I welcome the news that the library is to re-open and I am sure many residents will be keen to start using it again.

 

TRAFFORD ROAD TO CLOSE FOR SURFACE TREATMENT

I am pleased to announce that Trafford Road is to temporarily close to through traffic to enable surface treatment works to be carried out. The closure will be in place from Tuesday 1st September to Wednesday 9th September and will apply to both the upper and lower sections of Trafford Road. 

In the autumn of 2019, elected members of Cheshire East Council were invited to put forward five priority roads for their wards. Whilst clearly not all requests could be funded, I am delighted that Moss Road, recently benefited from carriageway patching and now Trafford Road is to receive surface treatment.

This year, Cheshire East Council has made an unprecedented level of investment in road maintenance (£8.55m), as well as in footpath repairs and lining works; however, independent estimates suggest an annual investment of £17m is needed simply to maintain the existing condition of many of our roads.

Clearly there is much work still to do, but I would like to thank officers from Cheshire East Highways for responding positively to my request for these works to be carried out in Alderley Edge.

PUBLIC SPACE PROTECTION ORDER - ONLINE SURVEY

Earlier today I joined members of Cheshire East Council's Communities & Anti-social Behaviour team and the local beat team at Cheshire Police, surveying businesses and residents on the subject of high-performance vehicles. The multi-agency action group is giving consideration to introducing a Public Space Protection Order in the centre of the village; this would involve establishing a zone (possibly from the junction with Brook Lane to the junction with Whitebarn Road) where certain types of irresponsible driver behaviour would become illegal and enforceable with a fine. A Public Space Protection Order would be separate from recently announced speed reduction and traffic calming measures along London Road, but would give Civil Enforcement Officers additional powers.

Before the Council can begin with the implementation of a PSPO, there is a requirement to consult as many businesses and residents as possible and therefore I would like to ask everyone to complete a short online survey by clicking on the link below (the survey only takes a couple of minutes to complete). The survey will remain open until 1st September and I will share the results in due course. I would like to thank members of the Anti-social Behaviour Team and officers from Cheshire Police for joining me this afternoon and helping to provide a visible presence in the village. Police officers also took the opportunity to warn a number of motorists and spoke to several of the photographers who congregate to capture these vehicles on their phones. One motorist was also issued with a ticket for contravening the West Street one-way order.

https://surveys.cheshireeast.gov.uk/s/AEvehicles/