Following several weeks of negotiation, Cheshire East Council has confirmed that an existing Section 106 scheme can be used to fund some important highways projects in Alderley Edge.
Section 106 is money paid by developers to the council to mitigate the impact of a development on its surroundings. As part of the planning permission a legal agreement is made specifying how much money the developer must pay and what it will be spent on, such as improvements to highways and drainage, public transport, schools and parks.
Money set aside for Alderley Edge includes a payment of £59,283 from the development at 17-23 London Road, where Tesco Express is located, which was allocated for transport services and infrastructure. Whilst these funds have been in place for several years, no relevant project had been suggested for their use.
Councillor Craig Browne has been in discussion with Cheshire East Council and can now confirm that this money will be spent on installing dropped kerbs at various locations to help make the village more accessible for everyone; widening the pedestrian footpath on Chorley Hall Lane (over the railway bridge) and introducing a one-way system for George Street, South Street and West Street.
He said "I will now be working with officers from CE Highways to put these projects out to public consultation and to proceed with their implementation as soon as possible."
As the result of a Freedom of Information Request we submitted in September 2015, alderleyedge.com revealed that at the time the Council had £216,283 in the bank from S106 agreements relating to Alderley Edge which represented a substantial increase since we had last obtained figures. In October 2013 the amount set aside for Alderley Edge was £146,783.
In addition to the £59,283 from the development at 17-23 London Road, money set aside for Alderley Edge includes £88,678 from the Eden Park development on Macclesfield Road to be used towards the provision of affordable housing in a rural area to be determined by CEC.
There was also £28,239 from the Greenlands development on Chorley Hall Lane to be used for the enhancement of facilities at Alderley Park and Chorley Hall Lane along with the provision of outdoor sport facilities.
Additionally there was £40,083 from the Oak Park development on Heyes Lane for the enhancement of Alderley Park, Heyes Lane Allotments and Chorley Hall Lane playing fields - this money has now been allocated to the redevelopment of the children's play area in the park.
The new equipment was ordered back in July, but Councillor Rachael Grantham reported at the Parish Council meeting on Monday, 10th October, that the installation has been delayed and they are now hoping that the equipment will be in place by mid-November.
Councillor Browne said "Section 106 agreements can only be used for very specific purposes; in this case, improving pedestrian, cycle or public transport access into or within Alderley Edge. Unfortunately, they cannot be used to pay for a new car park!"
He added "Currently, I have about a dozen different highways projects that, following discussions with residents, I would like to bring forward. Thanks to this release of funds, it will now be possible to implement three of them earlier than would otherwise have been the case. I believe these projects are important, as they will all contribute towards making our roads and footpaths easier and safer to use, particularly for elderly residents, disabled residents and residents with pushchairs etc."
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
Very good news that the footpath on Chorley Hall Lane is to be made wider and congratulations to all involved in that.
Might it also be possible to use some of the 106 monies to improve pedestrian access within Alderley Edge, by putting in a footpath on the part of London Road where it goes over the railway line, up to Heyes Lane, where currently there is a footpath on only one side of London road?
Where are we up to with the car park plans?
Yes the project will require the introduction of a one-way system, because the road is not wide enough for both a footpath extension and two-way traffic. The proposal has yet to go to public consultation, but is likely to include a one-way system between Greenlands Walk and Carlisle St. This option will cost in the region of £10,000.
Some residents have suggested a traffic light system, which would enable two-way traffic to be retained. The difficulty is that this option would cost in the region of £100,000 and therefore is not really feasible. Another option of course, is to do nothing and to leave the footpath as it is, but personally I would prefer to get it sorted.
Kind regards,
Craig
Prior to the last election, there was already a scheme in place to remove a handful of parking bays from the upper section of Trafford Road, with the purpose of preventing parking on the blind bend. Immediately after the election, I shared with Highways Officers my belief that a one-way regulation would be a far more effective solution; however, funds had already been allocated to the original project and the legal order had been drawn up. Since then, the scheme has twice gone out to public consultation and on both occasions, objections were received from residents. As things stand, the order is sat on the Cabinet Member's desk at CEC (and has been for some time) waiting to be signed off before work can commence.
I gave an update on car parking at the Parish Council meeting in September, which appeared on http://www.alderleyedge.com a few days later (http://bit.ly/2dbYXaP). Work is ongoing, but in the short to medium term you will begin to see more incremental gains in on-street parking in the village centre; for example, we will shortly be getting an additional 15 parking spaces on London Rd, South St and Stevens St. Once a one-way system has been introduced on George St, South St and West St, it may well be possible to create some further on-street spaces there also.
Kind regards,
Craig
As you know, I reported the footpath on Chelford Road and gave you a copy of the confirmation and reference number for the report (3262562), which you can now track online at http://bit.ly/29XDa8g. Work is not always carried out as quickly as any of us would wish and I do share your sense of frustration; however, for the moment there is nothing more I can do. It is perhaps worth my adding that the cemetery lies within the Wilmslow West & Chorley Ward, rather than in Alderley Edge.
Kind regards,
Craig
as you may know, this problem has arisen before.
Since the green stuff keeps growing back, it is really a perennial problem.
Last time, we asked the C.E. Officers to have the pavements cleared, which they kindly organised. They also arranged for the farmer whose hedge borders the pavement to cut the hedge back; which he did.
The Parish Council could probably facilitate this for you if you wished?
apology if I got it wrong.
Back in the day, a gentleman complained that he could not get from the village to the cemetery because the footpath was blocked with mud, greenery etc.
The C.E. Officers responded promptly to the P.C's notice of this by clearing the offending blockages. I had thought that your problem was the same.
Seemingly I was wrong. I have re-read your entry here; I should have been more careful in the first place.
As a suggestion, to possibly speed matters, might you post an exact description of where and how and with what passage is hindered, so that the Officers can attend directly to your description?
I did, in the past, find that the Officers responded well to a clearly defined problem; as opposed to a 'something must be done'. Yes its not really down to you to do this, but 'God helps those who help themselves'?
Good Luck.
The years of neglect and consequential build up of mud and grass had made it difficult to use without having to step in to the road.
Thank you to Chorley Parish Council for taking this issue up with Cheshire East Council and Andy Simpson from Cheshire East for finally organising the work to be done.
What a major improvement this is making it possible to walk along the widened footpath towards the village from Great Warford .
Hopefully it will one day be possible for Jon Williams request for a usable footpath to be created wide enough for wheelchair users and pedestrians to navigate along Ryleys Lane out of the village towards the cemetery?
Good to read it's been reported by Craig Browne. Perhaps both the Alderley Edge and Chorley Parish Councils can work together to encourage Cheshire East to deliver a widened path.
Just to explain the situation with the footpath on Ryleys Lane/Chelford Road; the responsibility for cutting back the hedge rests with the landowner, who has been contacted by Andy Simpson and the team at CE Highways. Once the hedge has been cut, the "siding out" programme which has recently taken place on the rest of Chelford Road, can be completed. I will give you an update on this as soon as I can.
Kind regards,
Craig