The Alderley Edge Parish Plan (AEPP) has now been published. The document is intended to set the direction for Alderley Edge and is the culmination of many hours of work, by approximately 45 local residents over a long period of time.
Parish Plans have no legal status but a successful Parish Plan can influence local government processes and relevant aspects may be adopted as a Supplementary Planning Document.
Parish plans are intended to be evolving documents, outlining how a community would like to develop over the next ten years, and, as explained in the attached document "A Parish Plan should bring together the views, needs and opinions of the whole community, covering the relevant social, economic and environmental issues. There is no set format. It is up to each community to define the issues to be tackled by its own, unique Parish Plan."
The process in Alderley Edge started over three years ago, at a Public Meeting held in the Festival Hall, where local residents agreed to create a strategic plan for the village. At the meeting in March 2007, a group of local volunteers and Parish Councillors formed a steering group dedicated to producing a Parish Plan.
In November 2007 approximately 2,600 questionnaires were delivered to dwellings and businesses in the parish and by January 2008, when the survey closed, a total of 817 had been completed and returned.
The opinions and attitudes of village residents and workers were then analysed by Alderley Marketing Ltd, which is run by steering group member Ian Daglish. In February 2008 Alderley Marketing produced a final report identifing the key areas of concern. The working parties then converted these into the action plans which you can see at the end of the Parish Plan document.
The AEPP will now to be presented to Cheshire East, the Alderley Edge Parish Council, other local organisations, and the people of Alderley Edge.
Steering Group Chairman Nicholas Ridings said "For many of us who have worked so long on this important project, the working parties who came up with proposed solutions, and the people of the village, this is a proud moment. There is a lot still to do, but in this formal Parish Plan we now have a clear statement of intent identifying both the needs of our village and how these can be met.
"I personally want to thank all the people of Alderley Edge for the clear direction they gave, the many villagers who have worked on this project, the various bodies who have funded us, and not least the children of Alderley Edge Primary School whose work gives the cover of our Plan an appropriately local image."
Financial support for the Parish Plan was provided by Cheshire County Council, Macclesfield Borough Council, Alderley Edge Parish Council and the Alderley Edge Institute Trust.
Although the above bodies have funded the preparation of the Parish Plan, funding of the Plan is explicitly not covered by the document. The steering committee believe that funds may come from central or local government or from other sources, as appropriate but that some short term objectives may be met with little or no extra investment.
In his statement Nicholas Ridings said "You, the residents, raised the issues. You have also devised the solutions. The key will now be turning these worthy plans into definitive actions.
"Your Parish Council will adopt the document as an indication of the agenda, on which we would wish them to focus. However many actions will require residents to become involved themselves.
"I hope as you read the document, you are as excited by the results of the Plan as we are. Please get behind the Parish Council and the Steering Group. Help us to ensure our village of Alderley Edge continues to grow and prosper well into the future by volunteering for any of the actions that takes your fancy. Without your involvement this exercise will have been of limited use."
In November 2008 the Countryside Agency directed that Parish Plans, should be supported and encouraged. Some of the benefits to parishes which they identified as arising from producing a Parish Plan included; building community spirit, unleashing hidden talents, giving the Parish Council a fresh focus, discovering new funding streams and producing a valuable source of information and evidence.
Tangible results which have already been achieved in Cheshire include the; construction of a new playground, creation of new village websites, reinstatement of village events and reduction in village speed limits.
The Alderley Edge Parish Plan is a substantial document, which at 42 pages may unfortunately be a bit off putting for some people, but it is well worth taking the time to read because it is designed to influence the future of our village and should provide an opportunity for everyone to have a voice in local matters.
Looking forward to the next steps Nicholas Ridings said "Well attended public meetings have been an important feature of the plan's development. Once the holiday season is passed, we anticipate a formal gathering to celebrate the launch of the Alderley Edge Parish Plan, with parishioners and local government supporters all invited."
One of the next steps will also be the preparation of a formal Village Design Statement, addressing environmental and preservation issues within and around the village. This will be produced by The Built Environment Working Party and overseen by the Parish Plan Steering Group.
Nicholas Ridings said "This is a document that becomes part of the local planning regulations. It is much more powerful than just the Parish Plan itself, but is linked to it. Due to its nature it will take some time to produce and will not be completed for another 2 years."
We will keep you informed regarding a formal launch and please do share your thoughts on the AEPP via the comment box below. Should you wish to simply review the action plans these start at page 27 of the Alderley Edge Parish Plan.
In addition to downloading the Parish plan here, hardcopies of the AEPP are also available to view at the library. Nicholas Ridings explained "The idea is that individuals will print off their own copy from the website. Printing a full copy for each resident and distributing would be too expensive and we do not have the funds to do so. The printed copies are for use in future funding applications linked to the various projects raised in the Plan."
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
Personally interested in nurturing and improving the community and in particular young people through an involvement in sport and clubs. I am Hon Secretary of the hockey section at the Alderley Edge Cricket Club that has over 150 junior hockey members but currently has no playing facilities in the village.Coaching and games have to take place in Macclesfield and Wilmslow.
With planning permission for an artificial grass pitch on the Ryleys playing field this will change when we have rasied the money to pay for it. It will be a super opportunity for local children and adults to take regular exercise, locally in the village and share in the great sporting community centre that the club provides. We already have an inclusive 'Mums and friends back to hockey' section and with the new pitch will welcome all ages of interested local people.
Pleased to help make the plan a reality. Really good document that I'm sure can help secure the right amenties and hopefully some funding. The future for the village promises to be exciting!
The proposal for a cafe in the park raises important issues but gives no answers.
There are no specific undertakings to deal with litter, graffiti, toilets and cost.
Enforcement will be required to control behaviour and surely this cost is not a priority for the Council in the current economic situation when so many other basic matters deserve attention.
Existing notices in the park are mainly ignored and I am not aware that The Friends take any action to improve the position.
Also, there is no persuasive financial plan to indicate that the proposed cafe will be a viable enterprise nor do we know what level of sales a proprietor would need to sustain the business and if that amount could be realised.
In the event of failure would the proposed building be abandoned and left to decay or will there be an upfront monetary deposit in the lease to return the park to it's present pleasant state?
Or will the Council take responsibility?
There is a risk that the appearance of the park will be deteriorate and is it worth it when the nearest village cafe is only 200 metres away!
The action plan for facilities states "Set the agenda for the 'Friends of the Park' to consider the following topics" and the only reference within these topics to a cafe is to "Trial a small, part time cafe in the park to encourage more use."
Back to youth and sport and school and community links. I'm convinced that local sports clubs can play a big part in supporting the ongoing parish plan.
Clubs could team up with local schools to deliver after school club playing opportunities that keep children active. Start at primary school and then carry on with secondary schools be they state run or independent. Children hopefully have a good fun and learnng experience and join the sports club and it becomes a healthy way of life. A positive lifestyle choice , playing sport, making friends and joining local clubs.
The proposal of a cafe in the park does raise issues and concerns and these were addressed by the Friends of the Park at a meeting with AEPC in March this year. If Lisa thinks it is appropriate, we would be happy to provide this information; which includes all relevant costings. We have never expected to burden local people with the build/running costs of the cafe; only that they should benefit from any income generated and extra facilities provided.
Indeed, all our efforts (The Friends of Alderley Edge Park) have been regularly publicised locally; most recently and at our instigation, Birse have kindly agreed to help improve the childrens’play area something sadly neglected by both CE and AEPC. We have a website and are in need of members and if Mr Liddle had bothered to enquire and show a real interest, we could have up dated him on our proposals for the whole of the park
Disappointingly, the importance and relevance of Parish Plans appears to have been overlooked and/or misunderstood. They are supposed to give people the opportunity to participate in their community, to have their say, contribute and bring about change. Implemented by the labour government and now arguably something which could become part of Mr Cameron’s ‘Big Society’, plans are a more democratic way of managing local needs and aspirations. The people of Alderley have had their initial say and the Plan should now be built upon, it is an evolving document and as importantly, nothing within it is set in stone at this stage; including what type of cafe would be appropriate in the park.
Nick Ridings rightly comments above that help is still needed; this is an opportunity to do something rather than being critical and apathetic.
This being said and going off at a bit of a tangent, I was interest to read that in the initial consultation a large majority of local people were concerned about the green belt and its preservation. What a pity so few Alderley Edge people bothered to lodge their objection to the Tesco/Dobbie application; in the green belt but in Nether Alderley.... NIMBYism perhaps or yet another case of short sightedness and, what was that word? Apathy!
1. Re. the cafe in the park several issues have already been voiced but I would like to add my own,
a. No one seems interested in stopping the frequent dog fouling in the park, the prime times are mornings 8 am till 9.30 and 3.00 pm till evening, every day at school times you see parents either before or after taking their children to school take their dogs loose into the park,even those that are on leads are not cleaned up after.
b. Have the people who voted for a cafe worked out the cost involved in running such a venture? It is no use a few saying "oh yes we need a park cafe and I would have a coffee there"
It would take more than infrequent coffee to make a cafe work > How many covers would be needed to make that a viable business?
As we have many coffee shops in the village why another ?
2. My next issue is with the traffic and mainly heavy 10-16 wheeled vehicles.The general idea is that the council would ensure that these vehicles would use the bypass,but from my experiance the council frequently shut their eyes to these vehicle using Macclesfield Road both ways even though there is a weight restriction sign on left of village.
So I am afraid I have very little hope that the council will stop heavy vehicles
using Alderley Edge.
3. We have to accept that Alderley Edge is changing, rates set by councils are too high for small shops to stay open those that do should be supported as much as possible. Rents also are too high set very often by London landlords.
I have lived here for over 60 years yes it has changed but then change has to be but please don't go over board at daft ideas ie cafes in park because this isn't and never can be a viable concern.