COMMUNITY SPEEDWATCH - RYLEYS LANE

On Thursday 23rd January, volunteers and local residents from our Community Speedwatch team braved the elements and carried out a one-hour session on Ryleys Lane. The results on this occasion were:

- 30 vehicles in total recorded exceeding the speed threshold
- 22 vehicles exceeding the speed threshold but under 40mph
- 8 vehicles travelling at more than 40mph
- highest recorded speed 47mph
- average speed of all vehicles was 39mph

This section of Ryleys Lane is within a designated school safety zone, where the speed limit is 20mph. Once again, I am grateful to our team of volunteers for helping to raise awareness of local speed limits and the importance of safe and careful driving close to our schools.

CONSULTATION BEGINS ON PARK MASTERPLAN

Last summer I met with ANSA officers to discuss our ideas and aspirations for the park. The resulting masterplan is intended to show how the park might evolve over the next few years. The proposed improvements are likely to cost in the region of £100,000 and therefore by necessity they will be introduced gradually, as and when funding becomes available.

The Parish Council have considered the masterplan and will be feeding back with their own thoughts and priorities, with Cllr Bev Chapman commenting “we are determined to improve our green spaces and to support the village environment, as well as encouraging biodiversity; however, we recognise that getting this right is going to take time and cost money. We want a park that is fit for our community.”

In addition to ensuring improvements to the bowling green, the introduction of more seating and a new noticeboard in the park, the Parish Council is keen to support an initiative by the Alderley Edge in Bloom group to introduce a Community Orchard in the grassed area between the railway line and the footpath leading down from the steps near to the park entrance.

Before going back to ANSA with our comments on their proposals, we would like to invite residents to share with us their feedback and aspirations for the park. Please use the comments box below to leave your suggestions, which we will collate and then report back to ANSA by the end of January.”

COUNCIL SUPPORT FOR 130 BUS CONFIRMED

Following my announcement at a meeting of full council on 19th December that D&G intended to register the 130 as a commercial service, Monday to Friday, I am pleased to confirm that Cheshire East Council will be supplementing this service with a supported (subsidised) hourly service on Saturdays, starting from 1st February. The Saturday service, like the weekday service, will run from Macclesfield to Handforth (via Alderley Edge and Wilmslow) and back to Macclesfield.

The rationale for council intervention to ensure a Saturday service is in line with our stated intention to reduce the environmental impact of car journeys, whilst supporting the weekend economies of principal towns along the route and ensuring that vulnerable and elderly residents are able to access healthcare at Macclesfield Hospital more easily.

A small number of residents have asked why the service will now terminate at Handforth rather than at East Didsbury as it currently does; however, an analysis of existing passenger journeys has shown that 75% of journeys on the 130 are wholly within Cheshire East, whilst a further 9% are wholly within Greater Manchester. It logically follows that only 16% of passengers are using the 130 for cross-border journeys, which is insufficient to justify a public subsidy to the service.

Vulnerable residents who are adversely affected by the change in this commercial operation, may be able to use the council’s newly launched flexilink service as an alternative.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A PEACEFUL NEW YEAR

On Tuesday 17th December I hosted a thank you party for our library group and community speedwatch volunteers. I was delighted to acknowledge the work of these local residents in helping to keep our library open when it was threatened with closure over 12 months ago, as well as our other volunteers who help to keep our roads a little bit safer. Over 30 volunteers came together to enjoy a cup of mulled wine and mince pies.

Thanks to our dedicated group of volunteers, who have been helping to keep the library open on Tuesday afternoons, the number of people visiting and using this important community resource has increased this year for the first time in several years. I would like to thank each and every one of them for helping to make this possible. As a result of their efforts, a number of new groups have been set up this year, including a craft club, a book reading group and a poetry reading circle.

I would also like to thank the members of our Community Speedwatch team, who regularly stand at the kerbside in all kinds of weather to record speeding vehicles. Margaret, our Speedwatch Co-ordinator then takes the details of each vehicle to Wilmslow Police Station, where they are matched up with the Police National Computer Database and the driver then receives a letter or visit from a police officer.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the volunteers who make such an important contribution to the life of our village, across these and other community groups. I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful New Year.

FOOD WASTE BIN SERVICE TO LAUNCH

A new food waste recycling service for Cheshire East residents will start in January 2020. From 6th January, people will start to receive a small green food caddy. This will enable food waste to be separated easily from the rest of everyday household waste. 

Residents can start using their caddy as soon as they receive it. An initial supply of biodegradable liners will be provided with the caddy. However use of these is optional. Once the caddy is full the food waste goes directly into the garden waste bin along with garden waste, with or without a liner.

As a result of this new service, green garden waste bins will be collected every two weeks throughout the year, rather than there being a break in collections during the winter months which has happened over the last few years. From January, mixed food and garden waste will be taken to a special processing plant in Crewe, where it will be recycled into compost.

LONDON ROAD SPEED ASSESSMENT

Many of you will have noticed that wires have been placed at intervals across London Road over the last couple of days. The wires are part of a speed assessment which I have asked for, following requests from a number of residents to do something about speeding vehicles through the centre of our village, particularly at weekends and during the evening.

I am aware that this has been an ongoing problem for some time and I have been pressing Cheshire East Highways to consider various traffic calming options as a result; however, any action taken by Cheshire East Highways has to be evidence based and that is why they have agreed to carry out a speed assessment.

The speed assessment can only take into account the AVERAGE speed of all vehicles moving along London Road, so whilst we can all probably cite examples of vehicles we have seen using excessive speed, Highways will only be able to take action is there is evidence that most vehicles are travelling above the speed limit at this location.

Back in February, the Parish Council invested in an additional Speed Indicator Device which has been located on Congleton Road. This afternoon I have downloaded all the data that has been collected over the 9 month period since then and have now shared this with the engineers from Cheshire East Highways, to support our case. The data shows:

- an average speed of 34 mph
- a top speed (southbound) of 86 mph
- a top speed (northbound) of 97 mph
- a total of 362,632 vehicle movements over the period