WELCOME REMEDY FOR PARK VISITORS

I am delighted to welcome "Juice Remedy" to our village park, starting from Thursday 11th November. Earlier this year, Cheshire East Council called for expressions of interest from potential providers of a refreshment facility in four parks across the borough (one of which being in Alderley Edge). I can now confirm "Juice Remedy" or "Remedy on the Park" as it will be known, as the winning tender.

This is an initiative that I have been pressing Cheshire East Council to embrace for many months and I am really pleased that it is finally going to become a reality next week. I know from the conversations I have had with residents that this is something that many will want to welcome and look forward to purchasing light refreshments from when they are visiting the park.

"Juicy Remedy" will operate intially on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from a beautifully converted Citroen HY van that will be positioned between the bandstand and children's play area. A range of products will be available including pressed fruit and vegetable juices, along with quality coffee and wellness lattes, as well as delicious and nutritious treats.

Remedy will also be making an appearance at the Christmas Lights Switch On on Saturday 13th November, at South Street Car Park, with a focus on quality, health, wellbeing and sustainability. Remedy will be operated by a local business owner and I would like to wish them every success. I believe this facility will be a very welcome addition to our village park.

CCTV CONTROL ROOM REPORT - QUARTER 2 2021/22

I am pleased to attach our Q2 report from the CCTV Control Room, which shows that a total of 55 incidents were recorded during the period. Some of which led to no further action following an initial review of the system (these incidents might include instances of the team observing apparently suspicious behaviour or monitoring an individual in a state of drunkenness making their way out of the village).

Over the last 18 months, the CCTV team has carried out an upgrade of our surveillance equipment, which now includes full HD and nighttime vision. The team were recently inspected by the Security & Alarms Inspection Board (SSAIB) for the Management and Operation of Public Space CCTV (known in the industry as the "platinum standard" with only a handful of the 400+ councils nationwide holding the mark.

Of the incidents recorded in Alderley Edge over the last quarter, a small number did result in further action being taken and CCTV footage being successfully used to identify the perpetrators, including: a large fight taking place outside one of our licensed premises, after which the CCTV team were requested by police to get face shots of those involved; CCTV picking up an individual about to leave by car, apparently under the influence of alcohol. The team contacted the police who stopped the vehicle and arrested the driver.

The Parish Council continues to fund the provision of CCTV surveillance in conjunction with Cheshire East Council, to protect the safety of our residents, business owners/workers and their property.

COMMUNITY SURGERY - SATURDAY 30TH OCTOBER

I would like to remind residents that I will be holding my regular community surgery this Saturday morning, between 10am and 11am at Alderley Edge Library. Please do come along and join me for a chat if there are any community related issues you would like to discuss.

In line with government restrictions, regrettably I was forced to cancel my face-to-face indoor surgeries during the pandemic; however, in line with the removal of formal restrictions, I have now re-started my surgery on the last Saturday of each month.

I look forward to seeing you this Saturday.

COMMUNITY SPEEDWATCH - A SPEEDING VEHICLE EVERY MINUTE ON WILMSLOW ROAD

On Thursday 14th October, I joined Parish Councillors Bev Chapman and Karen Robinson along with other local volunteers from our Community Speedwatch Team. On this occasion we were stationed on Wilmslow Road between 2pm and 3pm, during which time we recorded no less than 60 vehicles exceeding the speed threshold (in other words, one speeding vehicle per minute).

The detailed results of our session were as follows:

- 45 vehicles were recorded above the speed threshold, but under 40mph

- 14 vehicles were recorded travelling between 40mph and 50mph

- 1 vehicle was recorded travelling over 50mph (52mph)

Of the number of vehicles recorded speeding, 51 were travelling south along Wilmslow Road towards Alderley Edge village, whereas only 9 vehicles were travelling away from the village towards Wilmslow. The results provide further evidence which will help support my proposals for the introduction of traffic calming measures along Wilmslow Road and in the village centre.

Community Speedwatch is a national campaign and our local volunteers provide a valuable service which is backed by Cheshire Police. As always, the more volunteers we have, the more sessions we will be able to run and inevitably these help to make our roads safer for all users. If you would be interested in giving up an hour a month to support our efforts, do please get in touch.

KNUTSFORD ROAD TO CLOSE FOR CARRIAGEWAY REPAIRS

Residents will recall that the funding Cheshire East Council receives from central government for road maintenance was cut by 23% (£4m) this year; unfortunately but understandably, this has had an impact on Cheshire East Highways' repair programme. Nevertheless, I am delighted to announce that Knutsford Road has been added to the programme and that repairs will take place shortly.

Earlier this summer, carriageway patching works were carried out on Macclesfield Road and the results have been a welcome improvement for all road users (motorists, cyclists and pedestrians). The works to Knutsford Road will begin at the junction with Brook Lane (Alderley Edge), continue through Chorley and on until the Bird in Hand at Mobberley.

While most of the planned works fall outside the Alderley Edge Ward Boundary, I am sure that many residents of the village who travel this route regularly will be pleased to hear the news. I hope they will also share my joy that the mini-roundabout at the junction of Brook Lane and Knutsford Road is to be completely resurfaced and re-marked at the same time.

Due to the extent of the planned works, which are proposed for early November, there will be a nine-day rolling road closure of various sections along Knutsford Road. At the time of writing, I am still waiting for confirmation of the exact dates, but will post these to my blog and share them on social media as soon as I am made aware of them.

Whilst the route will be closed to through traffic, engineers from Cheshire East Highways will do their best to enable access to residential properties and businesses at all times.

  

ALDERLEY EDGE LIBRARY - CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS

Following the relaxation of restrictions, we are once again looking forward to re-starting our Tuesday afternoon sessions at Alderley Edge Library. As a reminder, a group of about 20 volunteers, working under the auspices of the Parish Council, came together in 2018 to help ensure Alderley Edge Library remained open (it had been threatened with closure by the administration then in place at Cheshire East Council).

Clearly, we have not been able to work in the library over the last 18 months due to the pandemic, but we are now looking to start again and hopefully include arts & crafts as well as a reading & poetry club among our activities once more. From Tuesday 5th October, we are hoping to re-open Alderley Edge Library between 1.30pm and 5.30pm with the help of volunteer library assistants.

During these times, residents will be able to borrow or return books, browse the library, use the photocopier, help organise or take part in one of our varied range of activities; however, a handful of our original volunteers have let us know that they will not be able to help out any more and so we are making an appeal for other residents who may have a few hours spare, to come forward.

If you are reasonably active and able to spare a couple of hours once a month on a Tuesday afternoon (there are two slots: 1.30pm to 3.30pm or 3.30pm to 5.30pm) please do get in touch by sending an email to aelibvolunteers@gmail.com. The role is not particularly onerous, but full training will be given and we always work in groups of at least three people, so no one is left on their own at any point.

This is a great opportunity to help support a much needed and much loved service in Alderley Edge.