Double yellow lines and speed bumps have been installed on a private road in the Alderley Edge Conservation Area.
The yellow lines were painted on the top part of Woodbrook Road, as you turn off Macclesfield Road, on Friday, 15th February, by a contractor who said he was working for the owner of an adjacent property.
As the road is unadopted it is not maintained by Cheshire East Council but their Highways Department are seeking advice regarding whether the lines and speed bumps need to meet certain criteria.
Cheshire East Council have confirmed that the lines are unenforceable, as there is no Traffic Regulation Order, and the work is being examined by the northern area enforcement team of the Council.
Philip Jobling, from the Edge Association, said "Whilst we welcome investment in road maintenance, there was nothing fundamentally wrong with this stretch of Woodbrook Road and what has been done is not in keeping with what we would want to encourage. Had we been consulted we would have expressed our concerns."
Photo shows the top part of Woodbrook Road which has been resurfaced and had double yellow lines and speed bumps installed. These are only present on this top stretch, the road remains untouched as you turn the corner to head down into the village.
What do you think about the yellow lines and speed bumps installed on this section of Woodford Road? Share your view via the comment box below.
Comments
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Next he / she will be installing street lights along the road side ....
The yellow lines will dull down and get dirty, so will not stand out as much very soon. Looks fine to me.
Putting aside the fact that Penn is Grade II listed and, as such there are rules protecting its ‘setting’, this amounts to ‘vandalism’ and if ignored and allowed to go unchallenged, is a worrying precedent in the Alderley Edge conservation area.
Below are just a few relevant comments from the document itself:
THE ALDERLEY EDGE CONSERVATION AREA APPRAISAL
Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 obliges local planning authorities to determine which parts of their areas are of special architectural or historic interest and to designate them as conservation areas. Section 72 of the same Act also specifies that it is the general duty of local planning authorities, in the exercise of their planning functions, TO PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE DESIRABILITY OF PRESERVING OR ENHANCING THE CHARACTER OR APPEARANCE OF THESE CONSERVATION AREAS.
THE CHARACTER AND APPEARANCE OF THE ALDERLEY EDGE CONSERVATION AREA
General description
4.1 The Alderley Edge Conservation Area is notable for its cohesive, sylvan qualities. Prestigious, detached villas, mostly dating to between 1845 and 1900, sit in generous plots with mature tree planting largely hiding them from the public viewpoint. STONE SETTED ROADS, stone boundary walls, the mature shrubs and large trees, and the undulating topography provide an interesting and unique townscape.
The conservation area is bounded by the busy Congleton Road to the west, and the more secondary Chapel Road/Mottram Road to the north. Macclesfield Road, another main route eastwards, bisects the conservation area and is notable for the hill rising from the village of Alderley Edge. OTHER ROADS ARE QUIETER AND MORE RURAL IN CHARACTER, PARTICULARLY SWISS HILL AND WOODBROOK ROAD.
For the front boundaries, hedging is often combined with a low stonewall and in Whitebarn Road, the stone walls have huge pieces of stone, practically still in situ, forming the base of the walls. A similar feature occurs in Woodbrook Road, with the naturally occurring rock forming the base of the high stone walls where the road cuts through the crest of the hill. THESE WALLS LOOK PARTICULARLY ATTRACTIVE WHERE THE ORIGINAL 19TH CENTURY SETTS HAVE BEEN RETAINED.
THE SETTED ROADWAYS WITHIN THE CONSERVATION AREA DATE TO THE 19TH CENTURY AND ARE PARTICULARLY NOTICEABLE IN WOODBROOK ROAD, WHERE THEY COMBINE VISUALLY WITH THE STONE WALLS WHICH UTILISE THE SAME, LOCAL SANDSTONE.
However, some improvements are needed to the roads, pavements and grass verges. The predominant material is tarmacadam and IN A MORE RURAL CONSERVATION AREA, SUCH AS ALDERLEY EDGE, THIS IS NOT INAPPROPRIATE.
THE FUTURE MANAGEMENT OF THE ALDERLEY EDGE CONSERVATION AREA
Local Plan policies
7.1 MACCLESFIELD BOROUGH COUNCIL IS COMMITTED TO PRESERVING AND ENHANCING THE CHARACTER OF THE ALDERLEY EDGE CONSERVATION AREA AND this appraisal should be read in conjunction with the Macclesfield Local Plan 1997 (as amended by the Local Plan 1st Alterations dated October 2000 and by the 2nd Alterations dated January 2002).
7.2 Policy BE12 states that in the Alderley Edge Conservation Area:
THE BOROUGH COUNCIL WILL SEEK TO PRESERVE AND ENHANCE:
THE WINDING SETTED LANES.
7.10 THE SETTED CARRIAGEWAYS MUST BE PROTECTED AND REPAIRS CARRIED OUT USING MATCHING MATERIALS.
I can't imagine the traffic warden making a special trip to Woodbrook Road to ticket any cars that might be parked on those lines. It seems like its impossible to sort out the illegal parking thats happening in AE itself so what hope for up that road. Unless of course they are employing their own traffic warden.
alongside the path leading to the forest?
It is a travesty what has been done to that end of Woodbrook Road. The person that did this has scant regard for conservation and obviously more money than discernment.
Joy Daglish, if you want to see historic cobbles, come have a look at them on Davie Lane, the Tarmac is so bad on that road, there's plenty to look at. :-)