Alderley Edge Parish Council has agreed to issue new tenancy agreements to allotment holders on all three sites in the village. Additionally, the Alderley Edge Allotment & Gardens Society will continue to collect the rents and manage the three sites.
This represents a u-turn on the decisions taken by the previous Parish Council who issued the Alderley Edge Allotment and Gardens Society with a Notice to Quit the Heyes Lane allotment site in February 2014. The notice was issued under the terms of the Tenancy Agreement, which dates back to December 1976, on the grounds of development needs.
Tenants were been given three months notice to quit the site by 28th May 2014 because the land was required for a new car park. However, allotment holders at Heyes Lane challenged the notice served by the Parish Council and refused to quit the site.
A second notice was served last autumn, giving 12 months notice to end the Allotments Society's current tenancy agreement on all three sites: Beech Close, Chorley Hall Lane and Heyes Lane. The intention was for Alderley Edge Parish Council to take over the running of the sites.
However, the new Parish Council has been advised by their lawyers, Slater Gordon, that, in the absence of planning permission, it would be very difficult to take back any of the allotment sites for alternative use.
Councillor Craig Browne told me "The existing leases date back to the 1970s and again, Slater Gordon advised us that rather than attempt to withdraw the notices to quit, it would be better to start with a clean slate and work with the Allotment Society to negotiate new leases."
Under the terms of the new leases, the Allotments Society will continue to collect rents and manage the three sites as they have done previously. In return for this, they receive a 30% management fee, which on the Chorley Hall Lane site is equivalent to approximately £400. The Allotment Society had written to the previous Parish Council on 23rd April, asking whether rents should be collected for all three allotment sites.
At the Parish Council meeting on Monday, 8th June, councillors resolved to:
- Prepare new tenancy agreements for the 2015/16 season in respect of Heyes Lane, Chorley Hall Lane and Beech Close allotment sites.
- Formally respond to the Allotment Society's letter dated 23rd April, requesting that the rents for 2014/15 be collected for all three sites.
Councillor Craig Browne added "Acting on the advice of our lawyers and in the absence of planning permission for any alternative use of the three sites, the Parish Council decided that the above actions were reasonable, fair and in the interests of all parties at the current time.
"A comprehensive review of parking requirements is now being undertaken by the Parish Council, working in conjunction with Cheshire East Parking. Additionally, we have a team of volunteers who will be helping us to gather data at key parking hotspots; this work will begin over the next two weeks and will continue until mid-late September, thereby enabling a comparison between demand during school term time and demand during holiday time.
"Currently, we are unable to predetermine the outcome of the review by commenting on any one site in particular."
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
It cost more than the management fee to effectively run the three sites and a lot of unpaid hours in grass cutting and hedge trimming etc
I can see that with AE having residents with your views, how it was possible for Frank Keegan to get away with what he did. He will be very proud of you.
I firmly believe that one of the reasons our current Parish Council were elected was because they promised a completely different approach. They recognise that this issue is important and (after ensuring the ongoing construction of the new Medical Centre), it requires their immediate attention. They are delivering on their promise now, and conducting a thorough analysis, exploring every possible option, before they deliver a proposed solution.
In order to do this properly, their research must take place both when the schools are closed for holidays AND when they are open during term time. Only then will they be able to clearly ascertain the extent of the parking issues and how closely related they are to term vs. holiday periods. I should imagine the data gathered will provide evidence to support the idea to get the schools directly involved in providing a solution.
So whilst I agree this issue has gone on far longer than it should have (if the previous council had taken a different approach, who knows, they may have remained in situ and the parking issue could have been a thing of the past), I, for one, am fully supportive of the approach the new Parish Council are taking.
The calumny that the previous P.C. did not consider all options. Of course they did.
Then came to the conclusion that a car park on Heyes Lane was the least harmful/best option.
Some people disagreed with that. As was their right.
I await the present P.C's presentation of its analyses, range of options, cost-benefit analysis, data and final choice.
I also await the result/s of the promised consultation/s with the general public.
Hopefully all this will become available by September i.e. after the schools return to work.
Whatever the solution is to be, please let it be put in action, sooner rather than later?