This week I caught up with Councillor Matthew Lloyd to learn more about the Parish Council's meetings with Ben Hamilton-Baillie, who worked on the shared space scheme in Poynton, and what they are looking to achieve.
Cllr Lloyd told me "The Parish Council, and Alderley Edge ward councillor Cllr Frank Keegan, have been in dialogue with Cheshire East Council (CEC) since before the bypass opened with a view to ensuring the necessary traffic management is put in place to reflect the changed traffic flows. Additionally, the centre of the village has been neglected over the years, understandably, as all effort was put into ensuring the bypass was built.
"The Parish Council's discussions with CEC were initially focused on the possible redesign of a number of junctions but a more holistic view is now being taken to address a wider range of needs for redevelopment of the centre of Alderley."
A number of meetings have been held between the Parish Council, CEC and more recently Ben Hamilton-Baillie, whose practice, Hamilton-Baillie Associates, is a highly respected traffic and urban design consultancy.
Speaking about the issues they have discussed, Cllr Lloyd told me "A very wide range of possibilities are being looked at, with no specific proposals to be made before public consultation. The initial thoughts are that any such redevelopment would be focused on the main road through the village, perhaps from the Ryleys Lane junction to the north through to the Macclesfield Road junction to the south.
"A shared space scheme is open to consideration however it would not be like Poynton have. The situation in Poynton is very different to the issues we face in Alderley Edge. In Alderley we are no longer faced with heavy traffic which was a problem Poynton had to address; rather, we face an issue with increased traffic speeds through the village. There are also different parking pressures in Alderley. Poynton has off road parking available to shoppers and shop-workers behind many of the retail premises which do not exist in Alderley. Any scheme in our village is almost certainly going to have to accommodate on street parking on London Road."
It is too early for the Parish Council to estimate delivery dates for this project, however they are planning to run an initial public consultation later this year.
Speaking about where the funding will come from for this project, Cllr Lloyd said "It is too early in the project for a budget to have been set, first we need, as a community, to decide what we want. Initial 'project-priming' has been funded by Cheshire East, which is a very welcome demonstration of their support for the project.
"Public consultation is obviously key to the success of such a project. The first step in the ongoing process of consultation will be a public meeting later this year which will allow the village to express its views as to the priorities and desires for such a scheme and indeed to allow the village the opportunity to express its support or otherwise for the scheme in principle.
"Our intention is for Ben Hamilton-Baillie to present his thoughts on the current challenges and opportunities facing Alderley Edge, as his experience allows him to draw on many such projects across the UK and internationally. No specific proposals will have been drafted before the public meeting as this can only been done after the initial public consultation."
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.