Current Activities of the Parish Council

Dane Valley Improvements

The River Dane forms the northern boundary to the parish of Holmes Chapel and three areas of land have for some time been owned by Congleton Borough Council (now Cheshire East Council) and are accessible to the public. Two of these areas which lie either side of Hermitage Drive are grazed by local farmers and need little attention except perhaps to the stiles and fencing. However, the larger area which extends from Cotton Wood in the west to a position parallel with Moreton Drive in the east is not grazed. The Parish Council would like to develop this area to the benefit of the community but without having detrimental effect on its natural appearance and character as a wild life habitat. The area is considered a significant village asset and should be utilised fully for the benefit of residents.

The Parish Council identified a series of objectives in a report published in January 2008 as follows:

To provide good access to an area of local natural landscape along the Dane Valley. Footpaths already extend into the area but these have been allowed to deteriorate over the years and need upgrading. There is also a need to provide vehicular access to the valley floor which will require improvement to the existing hardcore route.

To provide better access for the less able. It is not possible for people with mobility problems to reach any part of the valley due to the steep slope to the floodplain. The intention is to improve some of the paths and gates to provide limited access to the more level areas.

To develop an educational aspect to the area. The valley is rich in wildlife and is a fine example of a meandering river within a floodplain. The intention is to provide interpretation boards throughout the site and to involve the local schools in aspects of the site development.

To provide a link to Cranage via a footbridge. Cranage Parish Council have for some time wished to provide a safe route into Holmes Chapel via the Dane Valley. The development of footpaths on the Holmes Chapel side of the river would link with the bridge.

To develop managed habitats for a range of native species in conjunction with interested groups. Once the infrastructure is established there will be areas of the site suitable for improvement and local groups would be encouraged to take on long term responsibility for specific areas. This would ensure involvement by the community in the area and introduce funding and manpower resources.

To provide the opportunity to use parts of the area for village public occasions. The floodplain part of the valley is level and offers scope for communal social activities in keeping with the main objectives of the site. Improvements to the access route would be required.

On the north side of the river, in the parish of Cranage, further land is owned by Cheshire East which currently has two full size football pitches but with space for further recreation facilities. By working with Cranage Parish Council and Cheshire East we would hope to create a linked recreation area catering for a cross section of interests.

During 2008 and 2009 discussions were held with Congleton Borough Council and a topographical survey was carried out of the site south of the river. This was subsequently used to create a detailed plan for development along the lines described above. Cost estimates were obtained in readiness for grant application and public consultation. Unfortunately changes to local administration by the formation of Cheshire East Council have resulted in slow progress since then although the new organization has shown an interest in our plans.

In parallel with our work Cranage Parish Council have been endeavouring to purchase a parcel of land to provide access to the north bank of the river where a bridge could be constructed. This has been a difficult process and is still incomplete. However, they are keen to press on with improvements to the recreation facilities including the provision of changing rooms, allotments and an improved car parking area.

As a result of delays in progressing the work on the Cranage side it was decided during 2011 to press on with the work in Holmes Chapel but to ensure the final scheme would still be consistent with a footbridge/cycleway across the River from Cranage. A Programme Management Board is now in place and work is expected to start improving the footpaths during 2012.

Holmes Chapel Parish Council will be able to contribute to the costs of the project from our capital funds but we will need additional sums from other sources. In the current climate this may be a difficult phase in the project but it is important that we have a detailed scheme that we can present to funding organisations to convince them of the value of the proposal.

Up to date information on progress and activities will be reported under 'Latest News'

Updated February 2012.

Parking in the Village

Over the last few years, it has become increasingly apparent that car parking within the village is becoming more difficult. On occasions this has led to frustration and sometimes, illegal and dangerous parking. Future housing or commercial developments are unlikely to improve this situation.

The Parish Council intend to stimulate discussions with all parties to try and reach an arrangement to maximise the use of the parking available in the village.

As well as providing parking for residents and local businesses, the village also caters for a large rural population from Cranage, Goostrey, Twemlow and other villages who make use of the local shops, library, Health Centre and other facilities. The centre is also a convenient location for leaving parked cars while continuing journeys by train, bus, or using car-share arrangements. Overall there has been a significant increase in demand over the last few years.

There are many small private car parks located around the village as well as two small car parks owned by Cheshire East Council. Car parks belonging to retail owners are generally treated as available for general use and this co-operative approach is the most satisfactory way to utilise the spaces available. However, this balance of ownership means the village is vulnerable to the actions of private owners and what has been available for public use in the past may not continue to be available.

The Parish Council believe that the Borough Council should not impose any controls over their car parks without taking a wider view of its implications on the village as a whole. Nor do the Parish Council hold out much hope that additional land is likely to become available for parking in the village centre. Any re-development would involve high value land which is unlikely to provide parking spaces except those dedicated to the new occupiers' business. Even land such as the site of the fire station and the telephone exchange, should they be re-located, would have to be sold on at full value although in the event of retail redevelopment some additional parking spaces might be created for general use.

The Council is therefore considering what can be done to ease the current situation.

Potential Solutions

Time Restrictions

By restricting car parking in the centre to, say, two free hours we believe the current parking difficulties would be considerably reduced.

Naturally there will be various issues to resolve such as consideration to those requiring immediate operational access to their cars and servicing to business premises. It would also be necessary to make provisions for those working in the village but who do not need immediate access to their cars. By providing some long stay parking within walking distance of the centre of the village a satisfactory solution could be achieved. In fact if the parking were near the railway station it would also cater for those who wish to use public transport to continue their journey or wish to car share.

Long Stay Car Park

Although we support public transport initiatives and wish to ensure there are adequate links with surrounding towns this will not help our local parking problem. In fact a good inter-town public service may encourage people to leave their cars parked in the village whilst they travel further afield. This is a further reason for the provision of an out of centre long stay car park which could be serviced by a public transport interchange perhaps as part of the planning of new housing developments.

Encourage Green Awareness

In line with other 'green' initiatives we would like to encourage villagers to walk into the village centre as much as possible. However, many residents visit the centre in their cars on their way to other destinations and we would not wish to restrict such short visits to the village centre which could be detrimental to local business. In fact, the Parish Council must assist traders in ensuring that parking is readily available for short term use.

Cheshire East Council have indicated that they are carrying out parking surveys in various locations in the Borough and will undertake a survey in Holmes Chapel in 2012. A precise date is not yet known at the moment.

In the meantime the benchmarking exercise undertaken by the Parish Council is producing useful information which will be fed through to Cheshire East.

Traffic through the Village

• Over the last few years, traffic in the village has reached levels of both inconvenience and danger for the users of the village centre. As there is every reason to believe traffic levels will increase in the future, the Parish Council believe action must be taken to preserve the character of the village. We intend to explore in depth a number of options; removing heavy vehicles from the village centre, pedestrianising the village centre or only allowing one way traffic through the centre.

Eliminating heavy goods vehicles from the centre would provide a safer and cleaner environment for pedestrians. Ideally the restriction should also apply to Macclesfield Road close to The Square where the road is very narrow.

After the recent work in the village centre when the road was closed for several weeks we received many requests for the arrangement to continue. The possibility of a purpose built by-pass to Holmes Chapel has been mooted but appears, at this stage, extremely unlikely in terms of logistics and cost. However, it would be wrong to rule it out as a potential long-term solution bearing in mind the need for major changes to eliminate rat runs and to improve traffic flow on the available routes. We do not believe the problems are insurmountable but would like the option to be explored in depth. One possibility would be to allow one way traffic through the centre and, especially if heavy vehicles were excluded this would offer significant benefits.

The costs of such work would be high but in the long term the cost of taking no action will also be substantial, especially in terms of pedestrian safety and viability of the retail community.

There are other less costly options such as reducing speed limits further or traffic calming measures and these will be considered but we would prefer to see a bolder approach, as discussed above, which would benefit Holmes Chapel over a long timescale.

Considerable disruption occurs in the village from time to time as a result of inconsiderate parking on pavements mainly by heavy vehicles loading and unloading goods or just visiting the local shops. Despite the shortage of parking spaces, the Parish Council support parking restrictions and loading and unloading restrictions where necessary for road safety purposes.

Some months ago, the Parish Council formed a Traffic Task Group to consider long term traffic problems in the village. The group has met on several occasions to consider a range of problems. In addition to Parish Council membership, there has been representation from the Parish Plan Implementation Group (soon to become the Holmes Chapel Partnership)

Some months ago, the Council appointed a Traffic Task Group, to consider long term traffic problems in the village. The group has met on several occasions to consider a range of problems. In addition to Parish Council membership, there has been representation from the Parish Plan Implementation Group (soon to become the Holmes Chapel Partnership).

In 2010, the Task Group reported to the Council's Techncial Services committee which made recommendations to the Full Council. At the Parish Council meeting on 23 September 2010, the following recommendations were approved:

1. The Committee, taking into account local views expressed in the Parish Plan survey and the recommendations of the council's Vision document, recommend that the Council approach the Portfolio Holder to consider: A weight restriction in the village centre or alternative methods of restricting HGV's.Methods of routing traffic away from Holmes Chapel Methods of routing traffic within the village.
2. The Committee recommend that the Council: Support the proposal for a mini roundabout at the Middlewich Road / Chester Road junction, subject to proper consultation being made and signage being provided to ensure efficient working of the system; and subject to no more than one tree being removed. Ask for the consideration of the provision of mini roundabouts at either end of Manor Lane to aid the traffic flow and complement the other proposals being recommended.

In 2011 there was public concern at both the speed of traffic and number of HGV's through Holmes Chapel and a public meeting was held in July 2011 attended by Fiona Bruce MP, members of Cheshire East Council, the Parish Council and about 50 members of public.

Following the public meeting, a traffic questionnaire (prepared by Cheshire East Council Highways Department) was delivered to every household in the village. 364 replies were received and the results have been analysed. Details of the questionnaire, CEC Analysis and a postcode distribution can be seen by clicking on the highlighted words.

The consultation responses indicated the following as being the three main issues concerning respondents:

• HGV's / Narrow Roads
• Speeding / Traffic calming
• General volume / congestion

Working together, the Parish Council and Cheshire East Council have considered the responses from the survey and formulated an approach to tackle the issues.

Short Term

The following actions have been progressed:

• engage the police to increase / target speed enforcement;
• Parish Council / community group engage with police regarding community speed watch;
• Parish Council / community group deploy temporary speed indicating devices (Smiley SIDS) available from Cheshire East Council.

The following actions are to be carried out between January and March 2012:

• Install speed monitors on the main routes into the village to identify actual speeds
• Carry out manual entry / exit counts of HGV's on the main routes into the village: A50 Knutsford Road, A50 London Road, A54 Station Road, A54 Chester Road, A535 Macclesfield Road, B5308 Middlewich Road

The data will be used to build up a model of traffic flows through the village and to test various possible options identified to tackle the issues.

The date collected from these surveys are also required to support proposals that can be incorporated in a Medium (3 year) and Long Term programme.

Updated February 2012 see also 'Latest News'

Quality Local Councils

In its introduction the Scheme states: 'Quality status will equip Parish Councils to take on a stronger role in their communities and should be achievable by any Parish Council, regardless of its size, location or current activities'. It goes on to say 'Achieving quality parish status demonstrates that a council has met certain minimum standards expected from an effective, representative and active Parish Council'.

In order to achieve Quality Status, Parish and Town councils must demonstrate that they have reached the standard required by passing several tests. These are:

• Electoral Mandate
• Qualifications of the Clerk
• Council Meetings
• Communication and Community Engagement
• Annual Report
• Accounts
• Code of Conduct
• Promoting local democracy and citizenship
• Terms and conditions
• Training

An example of work being done towards the projected achievement, the Clerk of the Council is seeking the Certificate in Local Council Administration, which would give him the qualification required to satisfy the second of the tests mentioned above.

Cheshire East Council has started to work towards devolving additional powers to Town and Parish Councils. It is anticipated that in some areas, additional roles and responsibilities will be available for or offered to Councils with Quality Status.

The overview taken by the Cheshire Association of Local Councils is that in most areas Holmes Chapel Parish Council is compliant with the Status, but it has to provide a portfolio of evidence to demonstrate its compliance. The preparation of the portfolio is about to start and should prove to be a useful exercise in reviewing a number of areas of the Councils activities and procedures.

Crewe to Manchester Line Community Rail Partnership

The Crewe to Manchester Community Rail Partnership is supported by transport operators, major employers, local authorities, parish councils and passenger groups. The Partnership welcomes approaches from commercial and non commercial organisations to join the partnership.

The Partnership is managed under a constitution that includes the following aims:

• To increase usage of stopping and semi fast services on the Crewe - Manchester routes.
• To increase awareness of services and travel opportunities accessible by the line.
• To highlight the role of services in a local and regional transport context.
• To promote and enhance community and stakeholder involvement with stations between Stockport, Manchester Airport, Crewe and the areas surrounding them.
• To work with the stakeholders and the community to improve the passenger environment and journey experience.
• To improve accessibility to stations along the route.
• To work with local authorities, major employers and other organisations to develop green travel plans and promote the use of rail services for employment, education and recreational purposes.
• To work with stakeholders and the community to reduce anti social behaviour in the area of the railway.
• To support the use of rail in travel and tourism in the area.
• To enhance communication between passengers, train operators, Network Rail and local authorities.
• To work in close consultation and co-operation with the existing Mid Cheshire Rail Partnership with possible sharing of resources and co-ordinated working.
• To support the work of East Cheshire Lines Rail User Group, and Friends of Station Groups along the route.

The current members of the Partnership include: Alderley Edge Parish Council, Arriva Trains Wales, Astra Zeneca PLC, Chelford Parish Council, Cheshire Best Kept Stations, Cheshire East Council, East Cheshire Lines Rail User Group, Friends of Handforth Station, Friends of Sandbach Station, Goostrey Parish Council, Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive, Halcrow Group Limited, Holmes Chapel Parish Council, Manchester Airport, Northern Rail, Passenger Focus, Royal London Group Limited, Sandbach Town Council, Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council.

For more information and latest news, please visit the Community Rail Partnership's website at www.crewe2manchesterrail.org.uk/