Having pledged to make parking their number one priority, a parish councillor has admitted that he thinks it could take them up to five years to solve the parking problems in the village.
Councillor Mike Dudley-Jones provided an update on their work to tackle the parking problems at the Parish Council meeting on Monday, 9th November.
He explained that the Parish Council has carried out a survey to ascertain what the current parking situation is in the village. The first phase of which took place in July, when volunteers patrolled 16 roads in the village early in the morning and again mid morning counting the number of cars and recording the type of vehicle along with the registration number.
The exercise was carried out in order to give them an idea of the number of cars that are being parked long term (legally) in the village by people who work here.
Councillor Mike Dudley-Jones said "We were aware that the schools were on holiday but that suited us as we were able to separate the teaching element and the school staff element out to one side.
"We identified in that first part that there were 184 cars dotted around the village, all, with dare I say the exception of Devonshire Drive, perfectly legally parked but all very very annoying for people who've never seen a car parked outside their house. But nevertheless legally parked so there is nothing we can do about those cars. But what we can do is entice them into other areas and that's what we are trying to do."
The Parish Council then carried out a review in October when they identified a further 53 cars "that are regularly there each day".
Cllr Dudley-Jones said "As a Parish Council we have made parking a priority since the elections in May 2015 and to ensure that solutions are effectively sensible we quickly identified the need to have a close relationship with Cheshire East, whatever else happens there it is slow, it's not necessarily their fault, there are new portfolio holders in position but whatever we ask to happen takes time.
"It has so far taken us nearly 7 months to get a sign changed effectively on South Street car park where you are about to be no longer able to park for £2.90 for 24 hours in a car park which is full by 8 o'clock every day with people who have identified this is a good thing.
"You will now not be able to park for longer than three hours and you will not be allowed to return within two hours of that. That will take out effectively 30 or so workers and open it up for residents. Problem is the workers will now go and look for other roads and streets to park."
He added "We have two or three other major sites we are looking at which are complicated because they require help, they will take time and this is something which I don't believe will be resolved quickly.
"When we set out on this I thought we could solve most of our problems in a year, I think five would be more likely."
Alderley Edge Parish Council intends to make a presentation with further information at an informal meeting scheduled to be held in the Festival Hall early in the new year.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
I am sure the site of the proposed alternative allotments would make a much better site for football, at least it is not a bog ! And it is big enough for parking to be made available for players and supporters in stead of causing congestion on adjacent roads?
This would mean the allotments could stay in Heyes lane.
No one is suggesting not keeping a football field at Chorley Hall Lane, it is the big empty boggy bit alongside that is used for nothing that appears under utilised.
That still leaves a big non boggy bit on the other side of the pitch that is also unused .
The allotment on Heyes Lane is in contrast both used and appreciated by those who signed the petition to save it.
It either wants to be a thriving, modern, vibrant village or a sleepy one with no businesses or train station, bars or restaurants because if, like so many ghost towns and villages in the region, Alderley falls into the trap of making parking near impossible for people to come into the village then very simply people won't come.
The station will close because commuters won't come and use it. They also won't stop in for groceries on the way home. Bars and restaurants will close because it's simply a hassle parking, Businesses (and their rates payable) will move out because they can't get staff to work and there isn't enough passing trade to sustain business.. The high street will become, as per many other high streets, rows of charity shops, discounters and empty buildings and once that happens property becomes less desirable and house prices fall.
I live less than 5 minutes from the station and do my utmost to park considerately away from homes. I shop in the village after work each evening, I dine at least twice weekly in the village. I do this because generally parking is easy. This keeps the station busy and helps sustains jobs for the hundreds of local young people waiting on or serving behind the counter.
If it's not easy, then I won't use the village at all. Maybe this is what the parish council what to achieve but I'm not sure they be considered the cost in the long run.
I agree with Guy that the Chorley Hall field, or part of it, which is adjacent to an existing allotment site would be an ideal spot.
But please do something NOW and not waste another 5 years.
The Medical Centre / Festival Hall plan provides ample parking for the needs of that building and it's visitors and therefore there was (is) no need to snatch the Allotments before or instead of any other piece of land in the Village in order to solve the broader problems of parking.
That there is a parking problem in the Village is without question.
I believe that the new Parish Council are quite right to make a full and thorough assessment of the issues contributing to the problem before delivering a solution.
It should be remembered that Alderley Edge First won such a resounding victory at the local election not because they promised to solve the parking problem or save the allotments, but because they promised to consult with the people of Alderley Edge and listen carefully to their views and concerns before taking action.
There is no God-given right to car parking any more than there is to playing football or digging marrows.
you write that the Med. Cen./F.Hall will provide ample parking.
Perhaps you might provide some figures? Firstly how many parking places in total? and then disregard those for disabled people as they are clearly not for most people.
How many spaces for employees of the Parish Council? How many for the employees of the Medical Centre? How many for the employees of the pharmacy? How many for employees of any other business in the F. Hall? How many for the community groups that use the hall? How many for deliveries etc.? I suspect that there will be 2/3rds of damn all available for the public !
Hi Donald,
the old Parish Council did allow for the allotments. The allotment users were offered a larger, alternative site at the St. Hilary's field and the present allotments on Heyes Lane would have been covered and become the much-needed car park for 125-150 cars. However the newly elected AE1st Parish Council will now come up with their own proposals as to what they will do to remove the parking problem.
Hi Carol,
I agree with you. But are we a minority?
Hi Guy,
one approach might be to actually cost a car park at the various alternative suggested sites?
With regard to using the Chorley Hall Lane site; C.E. have so far refused to change a playing field into a car park (wholly or partly). I have no idea whether there is any attempt to change their mind. There is also the possible legal problems of turning a playing field into a car park? remember that AE!st always claimed that there was a legal impossibility in turning allotments into a car park.
Perhaps the public could be consulted as to which alternative 'solution' they would favour? Surely neither impossible to organise nor especially costly?
Just in passing: would it be possible for both the C.E. Council and the Parish Council to publish their intentions/thoughts on what to do and who would pay for it?
I wrote that there was ample parking provision included in the plan because that is what we were told (repeatedly) by the previous PC and the Medical Practice Management.
Are you now suggesting that the project to which you (as a member of the previous PC) committed has failed to make adequate provision for car parking?
Certainly the plans in the original proposal seemed to include adequate parking, but the draughtsmen hadn't detailed the allocation of parking bays sufficiently for me to be able to answer your questions.
as the Med. Centre project 'grew', the number of parking spaces went down. The addition of a new side entrance reduced the amount even more. The new works carried out by the new Parish Council plus the further probable works may well reduce the amount even more. An on-going project is an organic thing i.e. it grows and so something e.g. parking space has to give?
So you cannot in all fairness claim that either the old P.C. or the new P.C. 'failed to make adequate provision'.
We are where we are and in my own opinion it is best to build a car park at Heyes Lane, for the use of the Medical Centre, the Festival Hall and the general Public and local businesses.
As to actual figures, why not ask the Parish Council Chairman for an up-date?
Have you a viable other suggestion to put forward?
You and I have discussed other options on here in the recent past and I think we agreed to disagree on possible resolutions.
I have every confidence that the new Parish Council will look objectively at all possibilities and deliver what they believe will be the best option for the Village.
I guess that they (like you) will be impossibly hamstrung by the machinations of CE and in the end, the solution will never deal with the whole problem.
For what it's worth, I believe that one possible solution could be to do nothing.
At some point in the future we will have tarmacked the Allotments, the Parks, the School Playing Fields, the Churchyards and the Cemeteries. In fact all of the easy targets will have been laid asunder so that we can get to our lunch appointments, or our Hairdresser or Nail Parlour without getting our Gucci shoes damp.
In my opinion the loss of these important places, is too high a price to pay for strips of tarmac laid because people cant be bothered to walk, cycle, bus or train to work / shop / eat / pamper themselves, and for that reason I applaud the PC for NOT rushing into anything that we might all spend a great deal of time regretting.
"I live less than 5 minutes from the station and do my utmost to park considerately away from homes. I shop in the village after work each evening, I dine at least twice weekly in the village. I do this because generally parking is easy."
So if Alasdair can park, use the station and the shops and considers parking to be generally easy, is there really a parking problem in the village.
I do not live in AE but visit regularly and have never ever had a problem parking there. Even at the moment when the overall parking provision is depleted by the spaces at the Festival Hall not being available due to the development.
If any of you can give me evidence of one person who has intended to visit AE and has not done so because they cannot park then please tell.
This is all very disappointing , 5 years to solve the parking in A/E is totally unacceptable. Surely the Village with all its talents and come up with alternatives rather than resurrect the debate over Heyes Lane. Come on , we need to think about why people need to travel , how they travel and what facilities are needed, rather than just turning everywhere into a car park. If you ask the wrong question you often get the wrong answer. Maybe the question is not about parking at all. Surely, we have the capability to be more innovative in our approach to transport.
V
I am also one of those people who has never had a prob with parking in the village. I moved to London two years ago [but visited on a couple of occasions since] and before then, I used to go to Alderley for coffee, for beauty, to eat, to the market [on and off the Festival Hall], during weekdays and at weekends, during the day and in the evening, and never ever ended up having to drive away due to lack of a parking space [and I didn't have a Smartcar either].
Maybe we are exceptions but, deep down, I don't think we are... Interestingly though, when I used to park at the Festival Hall [weekdays and weekends alike] my car was one of the very few. There were plenty of empty spaces. Often, in fact, I could even park on Stamford Road itself on a Saturday, there were always 2-4 spaces available along there. When I last visited in March, the landscape was the same.
Q1 is there a parking problem in the village? If the answer is no, then do nothing. If the
answer is yes then go to Q2
Q2 is there a need for a large car park? If the answer is no then go to Q3
Q3 'what raft of actions can be undertaken to ease the parking problem'? If the answer to
Q2 is yes then go to Q4
Q4 where can the car park be situated? (1) Heyes Lane allotments
(2) Chorley Hall Lane playing field
(3) St. Hilary's field
(4) a.n.other site
May I yet again suggest that a survey of the citizens of Alderley Edge, carried out by an independent body, might cut through this particular Gordian Knot?
Some thoughts on non car park related easing of the transport issues in the meantime while other solutions are sought.
1) Car sharing (thinking village workers here getting mobilised and connecting with one another for this to work) https://liftshare.com/uk.
2) Encourage private rental of driveway spaces using sites like http://www.justparking.com (make a few quid and pimp out your drive while you are at work not using it).
3) School bus services ( I have seen this working in far more spaced out rural areas than Alderley Edge).
4) Welcome safe on street parking in all available spots. Yes that might mean having a car parked responsibly (emphasis on the word responsibly) outside your own house as on my road. Reasonable protection (permits) here for residents who have no drive and rely on street parking themselves. If there are safety issues surrounding this, solve the safety issues (dead slow signs etc).
5) Protect the rights of people with mobility difficulties by ensuring parking is available for them close to the centre.
6) Employers in Alderley Edge. Where a persons role doesn't require them to be physically in a common location; working from home. Yep, sit round in your underpants all day in the comfort of your own home with Jeremy Kyle on loop in the background undertaking your job with exactly the same effectiveness as being in the office.
7) Finally, and dare I say it for fear of ridicule, encourage the use of public transport and cycling.
Hope this helps
J
What is the point of having a beautifully revamped Hall but having very little car parking space for anyone using the Hall. I have been one of the organisers of the Tea Dance for the Poppy Appeal and, this year, was our fourth event and we raised £764 but, sadly, we had to hold it elsewhere because of the Hall's closure. The Tea Dance is growing in popularity and we hope to hold another Tea Dance next year but, even last year, people who came to the dance were complaining of having great difficulty in parking. Next May, a dance with a swing band is being organized, which is to be held at the Festival Hall on a Saturday evening, and if we are lucky enough to fill the Hall, where will everyone park? We want the Hall to be used and not left as a white elephant, as was the case a few years go. Ashley, the Hall Manager, has been doing a great job getting the Hall used and has been very helpful when we have had our dances there.
I think it would be very sad to have a car park on the football field. I often walk round there, especially on a beautiful spring/summer evening or even picking a few blackberries. This is an open space for everyone, not just a few allotment holders and, of course, we see youngsters enjoying a game of football there. Also, it would be no use having a car park there for people using the Festival Hall, especially two ladies on their own having just attended a function which, possibly, ended at midnight.
lets think about why people are using cars as much as where to park them ...
maybe some electric cargo bikes as proposed in Manchester for deliveries
maybe a meet and greet service like the airport
we will also need to consider charging points as well as parking spaces
and why 5 years .... we are in the 21st century
V
Two Levels.
Lower level ,Parking.
Upper Level, Parking, plus landscaped raised beds , with shrubs etc ,even some sections of grow your own as per tubs outside Waitrose.
Finance , ask someone ,there will be some large company who may be interested.
Is there anybody ot there.??.
if a decision is taken to build a car park on Heyes Lane, there are several options as to how to pay for it?
1. get Cheshire East to pay for it
2. Get the Parish Council to pay for it (that was the intent of the old P.C.)
3. Get a developer to pay for it and then run it; this would not be a popular choice I think,
but it has to be listed/considered?
As the new Parish Council are the ones in charge of the Heyes Lane allotments, then I guess it is they who are the ones to progress this?
I repeat for the umpteenth time; consult the citizens of the village as to what they want?
As for the PC paying for it; well I think they are struggling to find money to pay for the overspend on the Festival Hall.
Please Duncan could you stop trying to sound like you know the first thing about financing or developing anything in the village. You and your fellow ex-councillors have misled the people of AE into thinking that there is a huge pot of money that makes anything possible. This is Frankly not true. That is why the ideas that Jonathan Saville puts forward are far more realistic.
How can anyone have come up with the concept of building a car park on the Allotments when they have absolutely no idea how much it will cost. Duncan, you have no idea how much it will cost have you?
http://bit.ly/1HHUr24
1. Actually I do have a (very rough) idea of what it would cost to build a car park, because I bothered to ask a builder or two, back in the day. Since it was only a verbal discourse and the figures will now be well out of date, I have no intention of quoting figures. You can always get up and consult a builder yourself? or perhaps encourage our P.C. to do so?
2. I do not claim to know whether a developer would or would not wish to build and possibly profit from a car park. If you re-read what I wrote, I clearly stated that it was a possibility and as such should not be ignored!
3. No-one is trying to mislead the people of A.E. But remember that there was no huge pot of money when the previous P.C. decided to build the much-needed new Medical Centre (as neither NHS-England nor the medics were willing to!); but the finance was raised and the re-payments build in to the future.
4. Has there been an overspend on the F. Hall? I've not seen any list of works, with costings, so how can I know? Has the new P.C. overspent? before you attack them, as you have above, please take the time to check their figures?
Why do you seem to have the opinion that everyone else, other than you, are unable to do things? For me the correct attitude is that if the village needs something then all should get together to try and make it happen; rather than 'knock' so much!
Merry Christmas.
I think the current PC have done an incredible job of sorting out the situation they inherited.
The headline above talks about 'More likely' parking problems will take 5 years to solve
Just a reminder of what they said prior to being elected.
If you're an Alderley Edge resident, you'll know that parking problems have reached crisis point in the village; and you'll probably want something done about it – fast. And that's why parking will be the first and most crucial issue that recently formed AlderleyEdgeFIRST will tackle if it's voted onto Alderley Edge Parish Council at the local by-elections on the 7th May.
You seem to see yourself as some kind of 'attack dog' (Canis bigotus) for the new Parish Council; even when I have not actually been ought other than supportive to them.
The new P.C. didn't have much in the way of 'sorting out' any situation to do.
They will be as good or as bad as any of the many P.Cs before them.
Alas I fear it is not possible to have a reasonable discourse with you and so I have decided to cease wasting my time, not to mention the time of any readers.
I'll part from you with a few words from the immortal bard; little did he think that some of his words would one day be applied to your would-be venomous views.
'It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.'
Happy New Year.
I have the same information that you have. In the above article it is reported that the PC have surveyed the parking to get a better understanding of what the issues are. I assume that they feel that without accurate information it is hard to come up with the best solution. It is also reported that they are evaluating three sites which individually have their own issues to be solved. It is also reported that they have made changes to the parking in South Street car park.
Has this resolved all parking problems in the village; no.
The thing is that if you look at all the comments on this article what you will notice is that there are many different opinions voiced. Some think there is no parking problem, some think it is in crisis. Some think that a big car park will sort everything out, some think doing nothing is the best cause of action. I suppose that there are many different factors that lead to that difference of opinion. I think it is obvious that there is not a simple solution to this. Surely you must see that it will always be an ongoing problem and one that requires action on lots of levels. Yes, there needs to be more parking spaces in AE, but maybe there also needs to be a change of behaviour too.
We have to be realistic about what the PC can achieve. They have enthusiasm and intention to change the parking issues but they are not able to do anything without help from CEC. As reported above, those wheels turn very slowly and I am sure this is frustrating for all concerned.
It is also worth remembering that the PC does not have a huge pot of money to play with. The precept is £125k per year and most of that is used for existing expenditure. The festival hall development is a one off, it is not the norm for any PC in the UK and can only be financed because it has NHSE as a tenant. Hopefully it will eventually create revenue for the village but that will take time and it is not without risk.
I don't think the PC can wave a magic wand and sort the parking problem so that absolutely everyone in the village is totally happy. I do think they will work hard to try to make a difference though.
You are quoting very selectively from the article to which you link.
If you read the full article it makes it quite clear that (upon election) AE1 would undertake a thorough enquiry into the issues surrounding parking in the Village. I understand that that enquiry is in process and Cllr Dudley-Jones is using this forum to offer some initial thoughts.
I very much support the ideas put forward by Jonathan Savill as they offer a range of solutions that not only deal with the immediate problems of parking, but encourage the use of alternative modes of transport which I believe (in the long term) are essential because we will very quickly run out of allotments and playing fields if we continue only to explore the narrow-minded and costly solutions offered by lots of tarmac.
Duncan,
I am disappointed to read of your frustration in engaging with Martin Dixon.
The questions he raises and the answers you provide are quite helpful to others in forming an understanding of the broader picture.
The Car Parking debate has rumbled on for quite a while now and, to be frank, there has been a great deal of misinformation trotted-out.
I think that far from being an "attack dog" for the new PC, Martin has been a "Retriever" of useful information that might otherwise have been overlooked.
You are pretty much unique in that you are the only member of the former PC who is prepared to engage in these debates - I think that is to your great credit.
thank you for your kind comments of late. Actually Sue Joseph, another ex-Councillor, has also ventured a comment.
A question for you, re. engaging in this debate; this will be the 40th entry on this particular matter. None of those 40 are from a serving Parish Councillor. Do you think that some of them might/should reveal their thoughts to us? Then the general public might be able to offer their thoughts to the Councillors; isn't that consultation?
It is a real question; I'm not being sarcastic.
In fairness to the PC I feel that they have been pretty open when it comes to sharing information (good and bad) about the various projects that they are dealing with.
My guess is that whilst the consideration process is still underway they will not have arrived at any conclusions and from what Mike Dudley-Jones says above, factors under the control of CE (which will have a significant impact on any eventual decisions) may take time to resolve - unless we can get them "fast tracked" under Michael Jones' latest initiative.
I think that an informal public meeting "early in the New Year " gives the PC sufficient time to conclude their surveys, consider options and offer these for the consideration of AE.
I, for one, will not forget their apparent weakness and complete impotence when the next election comes around and I implore all the voters in the area to remember their names and vote for someone, anyone else!
Build a car park on Heyes Lane allotments now.
May I ask you a couple of questions?
What would you consider to be an acceptable cost for a car park on the allotments?
and
How would that be financed?
Excellent questions which I am not qualified to answer but I assume the costs were acceptable to the previous PC members who had decided that was going to be the solution.
How come your questions regarding costs have not featured in the comments before? In any case unless you are going to tell me that there would be enormous compensation costs associated with building on Heyes Lane allotments, the costs of building a suitable car park anywhere in the village would be pretty much the same.
Either we need a car park or we don't? If we do,as I sincerely believe, I cannot accept that a village like Alderley Edge would find the costs prohibitive. I accept that businesses, residents like me and users of the car park would all have to accept some proportion of the costs.
I am sure your questions, aimed at someone that you will be fairly sure doesn't know the answers, have been asked of me since you have taken exception to my criticism of the present local politicians. Who else can we residents hold responsible for not finding a solution to the continuing strangulation of the village centre.
I am curious to know in what way you feel that the new PC has let you down. They promised (if elected) to conduct a survey and explore all sensible options - they are doing exactly that.
The former PC did propose a car park at Heyes Lane but that was immensely unpopular with a majority of people in Alderley Edge because it wasn't properly costed, other options were not properly considered and (most importantly in my opinion) it would remove the last piece of green belt land from Heyes Lane and bring with it the very real prospect of future development.
You should also know that the land at Heyes Lane was gifted in perpetuity to the people of Alderley Edge by the (I think) Egerton Estate for the purpose of recreation. Frankly, the former PC rode rough-shod through the covenant and it remains unclear today whether they actually had legal entitlement to carry out their proposals.
You say that the cost of building at Heyes Lane would be the same as building on any site; That's as maybe, although the Heyes Lane Allotment site has a significant water course flowing through it which would require quite some diversion and therefore significant cost.
Why do you think that the answer is to build car parks? I have to say that on the odd occasion that I arrive in the village by car I don't have a problem parking but would it not be better to encourage visitors to use public transport or walk or cycle to the Village.
As a resident of the village do you really need additional parking spaces?
I would like to assure you that not one single one of my colleagues are in the slightest bit 'ashamed' of what we are are currently working hard to bring about for our Village. Not one.
Your remarks are just quite unbelievable! You should be very embarrassed. You know none of us, you have no idea of what is being done, what it might cost and how the whole process works. You might be surprised if I told you what the actual cost of building a car park on Heyes Lane might cost. Suffice it to say that it is a very very long way from what you might think.
You are clearly keen to see progress. Our Newsletter will help your understanding in December. We will then hold a meeting to present and discuss the options our Village has in the New Year. Hopefully, you will be there? I will remind you of the date nearer the time.
Perhaps then you might like to take the floor and offer your recipe and timetable for success to those who choose to attend.
But you might be wise to apologise for your remarks before you do.
I suspect you might assume a little too much of the previous PC. If they ever did get a cost for the car park they did not document it in the Parish Council minutes. Neither did they share this information with the rest of the PC. Nor did they explain how they intended to finance its construction or maintenance.
I have lost count on the number of times that I and others asked Frank Keegan for clarification of this. Needless to say, that clarification never came.
The costings and financing of both the Medical centre and Festival Hall developments were documented in the minutes and communicated with the rest of the PC. Those costings have subsequently been found out to be incorrect. I find it hard to believe this was a deliberate attempt to mislead the people of AE. So I am left with the conclusion of incompetence.
your writing above suggests that you have a figure for the building of a car park. Can you please share that with we of the general public? And who produced the figure please?
As you are all 'currently working hard', may we also have an outline of the various things on which the P.C. are working. It would be nice to share thoughts etc. rather than have to await a possible 'fait accompli'.
Transparency and consultation were the wonderful promises you made at the election.
Allow me to repeat that which I have written afore; if the village decides that it needs a car park, then it is surely the duty of either C.E. or AEPC to try its best to provide one?
Hi Alan,
so many mixed messages re. the legality or otherwise of a car park on Heyes Lane. Perhaps this could be at least somewhat clarified by the release of the documents on legal opinion which have been obtained in the past; by both 'sides'? Even any documentation from the Egerton Estate. So much better, wouldn't you agree, that the present 'thrashing around in the dark' situation?
I have explained that we will bring the Village up to date in a Newsletter in December and then follow this with a meeting in the Festival Hall in early 2016.
Does that present a problem?
You will have read that we will publish a Newsletter in December and follow this with a public meeting in the Festival Hall in Early 2016.
Duncan, if it helps - we believe we need 'car parks' not a car park but others might disagree.
You will shortly be able to decide, along with everyone in the Village, what the best plan will be based on what we have gleaned, learnt and presented; what things cost, who costed them and how likely they can come to pass and in what timeframe.
We are not in charge as you know. We have been entrusted to serve this Village with honesty and integrity and that is what we do. We are 9 individuals trying very hard to make the Village better for everyone's benefit?
There is nothing further to say at this stage
As a student of European history (of the last 300 years or so) I'm struggling to come up with a situation where a body with 100% of the elected positions goes against a substantial national trend and loses every single seat. Astounding!
In fact; I think this is so remarkable a turn-around that, when the dust finally settles, a drains-up investigation might be in order. At this point perhaps some former Councillors might regret their swaggering (bullying?) internet posts, or their admissions of deleting thousands of e-mails.
I suspect that the headline "5 years" on this piece may be an underestimate and would really not envy the task that the Independent Councillors have inherited. Reasonable folks would, perhaps, give them a little more time.
1. if the old P.C. have re-grouped, they forgot to invite me; so who are the ex-Councillors that you have in mind? Name names please.
2. mount a belated assault on the new P.C.? Who is doing that ? Name names please.
3. please explain clearly what you mean by the strange term 'drains-up,. Include please the implication/s of the term as you present it.
4. bullying former Councillors? Name the names please.
5. Name the Councillor/s who have deleted thousands of e-mails (would that be me?). Explain why you imply that there is something wrong with deleting out-of-date e-mails.
6. In the context of 'this piece' i.e. traffic/parking; please explain clearly exactly the unenviable task that the new Councillors have inherited. The old P.C. offered a solution. You may not have agreed with it, but there it was. The new P.C. have kindly promised to present their answer/s to the parking problem in the near future and everyone can then either agree that its a good plan or disparage the plan.
7. Why do you refere to the new P.C. as Independent, when all the new Councillors belong to the same political group i.e. AEFirst?
Do stop bunging out wishy-washy generalisations; if you think that individual ex-Councillors did ought wrong, then name them and clearly accuse them, thus giving them a chance to reply?
I do think allotments are great but in the centre of the village is that realistic in the 21st century, everyday I see cars everywhere, parked on pavements, parked on yellow lines, parked across drives, it's only a matter of time before we have another accident. I feel it's analgious with the Titanic, sinking while the band played on.
I guess you are not aware that there is a considerable history behind the whole parking situation in AE, especially the Heyes Lane allotments. The strength of feeling meant that last May the entire Conservative Parish Council were voted out of office as was the Ward Councillor.
The new independent PC are trying very hard to improve the parking situation and I am sure you can appreciate that it is not going to be a simple fix. I believe a lot of their time, since taking office, has been taken up with trying to sort out the Medical centre development which was under-budgeted and running behind schedule.
You seem concerned now that our unique little Village has insufficient parking to fit your needs and you suggest that we should sacrifice an allotment and green space to solve your problem.......you seem vexed that some of us are "bickering" in disagreement.
You say that it's "only a matter of time before we have another accident,"
How many accidents have we had in the two month period that you have been here - have I missed something?
And for your information there was at least one car crash on Ryleys Lane in the last 2 weeks. Therefore the next one would be "another accident". So you clearly "missed something" there, didn't you?
And possibly even many others that neither of us know about.
Indeed we do have two cars in our household but the majority of the time nether are used to travel to the village centre, one commutes to Knutsford the other frequently does not get used for several days as I choose to walk to the village or the station where I commute to Manchester from.
That said I am entitled to do with them what I wish provided it is legal. As Stewart says we have had recent accidents and others have occurred over time. The issue in the village is such that people are breaking the rules by incorrectly parking where it is not permitted. I say again it's not HS2 or the Heathrow Runway 3 issue - 5 years, come on.
You mention a car crash, do you know the cause of it. Were there any casualties and where exactly did it occur?