As reported last week, there will be no election for the Parish Council on May 5th because it has not been contested.
There are nine seats on Alderley Edge Parish Council and only nine candidates registered. However, we will have three new parish councillors from next month.
Alan Jones, Paul Tomlinson and Yvonne Wrinch decided not to stand for re-election so they will be replaced by the new candidates: Joseph Bergin, Melanie Connor and Sue Joseph - all of whom are members of the Conservative Party.
The changes at the Parish Council will not come in to effect until after the local elections on Thursday May 5th, but I have caught up with the new candidates briefly to find out a bit more about the new faces on our Parish Council.
Joseph Bergin, who is married to Gillian and has 3 sons, moved to Alderley Edge five years ago.
He is a Director of a Private Equity Fund, responsible for investing a £45m development capital fund into North West businesses and lectures on Business and Entrepreneurship at Manchester Metropiltan University.
Speaking about his decision to join the Parish Council, Joseph said "Alderley Edge faces a number of challenging issues - the development of the Festival Hall, the threat of increased crime, parking, protecting the green belt and retaining the post office service within the village.
"I believe that I can help the village to deal effectively with these issues as I have substantial business experience both in the UK and in Continental Europe. In addition, I am passionate about improving the quality of life within the village as my family love living in Alderley Edge and we have made many friends here."
Our second new councillor is Melanie Connor who will be a familiar face to many local residents because she has been an Alderley Edge parish councillor before.
Melanie moved to the village as a child in 1976 and returned to live here in 1996, having spent some time away through various jobs.
Melanie works as a retail manager for Sue Ryder in Knutsford, which she enjoys very much. Sue Ryder care for people living with complex illnesses and conditions, within both specialist homes and the person's own home.
I asked Melanie why she left the parish council a few years ago and why she had now decided to rejoin.
Melanie told me "If my memory serves me right I left the Parish Council in 2007. I left as I felt it was time for new blood on the council and felt that we were not being supported enough by the then Macclesfield Borough Council.
"I am rejoining now because I was asked by the local Conservative committee.
"I feel that now the bypass is built, the issues that were always being deferred "until the bypass" now have to be addressed. I'm concerned about the up keep of roads, litter, the retail mix in the village and parking - both residential and visitor.
"When I left the council the idea of moving the doctors surgery to the Festival Hall had been on the agenda for a while. I am frustrated that it doesn't seem to have moved further and hope to be involved with the marketing of the hall.
"I'm looking forward to working with the old and the new on the council and hope that we are now at a stage with the Parish Council that more can be achieved. It is a bit sad though that more people didn't stand and we couldn't have an election."
Our third new parish councillor is Sue Joseph who has lived in the Alderley Edge area for 31 years. Sue took premature retirement due to a freak accident, but prior to that she was Deputy Head of a teaching service for looked after children and young people in Stockport.
Speaking about her decision to join the Parish Council, Sue told me "I was asked if I would consider standing and felt that, as I now have more time, it was appropriate to try to give something back to the community where I have lived for so long.
"I am interested in the future development of the village, particularly the Festival Hall, and, as a physically disabled person, I am keen to ensure that all amenities are as accessible as possible for everyone."
I also caught up with Councillor Paul Tomlinson who decided not to stand for re-election having spent 5 years on the Parish Council.
Councillor Tomlinson told me "I decided not to stand again, because I didn't think I could put the effort in to get re-elected again. Alderley Edge is a predominately Conservative area with a large proportion of postal votes, these postal votes are principally 9 ticks for Conservative candidates. So anyone not standing on a Conservative ticket has big uphill slog to get elected, especially an independent individual.
"I was excluded from the Conservative party when I supported two independents from the Parish Plan group at the by-election, they put up a great show but not enough to overcome the big party band wagon. I think at this grass roots level of local government there should be no party politics involved, decisions should be made and implemented on what is best for the village with people who have time and drive to get things done, to be tenacious, especially to get Cheshire East Council (CEC) officers to do their jobs. This current system doesn't bring the best 9 people to help and drive things for the better in the village."
"I originally stood to be a Parish Councillor because I wanted to put something back into the village, the rumour got back to Frank Keegan and he convinced me to stand - that I could make a difference.
"In the past 5 years we've made a bit of a difference, but I feel we could have done a lot more. CEC control a lot of what happens in the village, they are trying to push this down to Parish level but with no money to make it work. I think to get what we want at the village level we may have to accept more local taxation - a larger precept, not a huge change but enough to make a difference and run the village as a business, not a budget starved start up."
Speaking about the highlights during his time as a parish councillor Paul told me "Most noticeable are the Christmas lights. They still give the village a buzz when they're on and are due a major refurb this year so it would be good to do more but funding is an issue.
"Another highlight was getting the Festival Hall back into Parish ownership, a red tape hacking exercise that saved this community asset. This job isn't finished yet, the GP's surgery move and hall refurbishment will happen, it is just a question of when, only funding is stopping it from happening - even Alderley Edge is not immune from a global recession.
"However, my proudest moment and my highlight was having the honour to lead the remembrance parade on behalf of the Parish when I was Parish Chairman - these traditions are a strong part of our heritage, lest we forget them."
Joseph Bergin, Melanie Connor and Sue Joseph will be joined on Alderley Edge Parish Council by existing councillors: Duncan Herald, Frank Keegan, Matthew Lloyd, Mary Maczkowiak, Nigel Schofield and Mike Williamson.
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