Parish Council News

Traffic Management

Following the public meeting held in July 2011, a traffic questionnaire (prepared by Cheshire East Council Highways Department) was delivered to every house in the village. 364 replies were received and the results have been analysed. Details of the questionnaire, results and a post code analysis are attached.

Also CEC have produced the following note on immediate action to be taken:

During August and September 2011 a consultation exercise was carried out to assess local traffic concerns in Holmes Chapel. A total of 364 responses were received and the results can be seen on the attached CEC Analysis report. Responses were received from all areas in the village as can been in the document Postcode distribution The consultation responses indicated the following as being the three main issues concerning respondents:

• HGVs / 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 HGVs 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 a model of traffic flows through the village and to test various possible options identified to tackle the issues.

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

Medium Term

The Parish Council and Cheshire East Council are to continue to work together to develop and implement measures that are identified. To this end both Councils are pursuing funding opportunities during the next financial year (212/13).

The Parish Council have budgeted and agreed to provide £15,000 in the next financial year (2012/13) as its commitment to improving conditions in the village. It is anticipated that some further funds will be available under the terms of a planning agreement relating to the development of the Sanofi Aventis site. Discussions will take place as soon as possible after 1 April to consider the outcome and results of the short term measures and to discuss the availability of further funding from CEC.

Planning Permission at the Former Fisons Site

Outline planning permission has now been granted by Cheshire East Council for residential development on part of the former Fisons site. This will be on an area bonded by Station Road / Marsh Lane and Mill Lane - so it is at the rear of the site looking from the London Road frontage.

The developers, Bluemantle, have agreed to sell this part of the site to a national housebuilder. The agreement is subject to some conditions so the sale will not be completed until these conditions have been satisfied. It is anticipated that once the sale is completed, the housebuilder will submit a detailed application for approximately 200 houses and that work will start on site in September 2012.

The Council will keep in touch with developers and provide more up to date information as progress is made.

Parish Budget

The Parish Council has now set its budget for 2012/13. This has resulted in a precept requirement of £100,390, which will produce an increase of approximately 37.4% from the current year. This equates to an amount of £41.53 per band D property in the Council Tax for 2012/13.

The largest single reason for the increase is the inclusion of £15,000 in the capital budget to enable the Council to contribute to Highway Management measures being taken by Cheshire East Highways. Highways will be carrying out investigations in the coming months to determine short and medium term measures to improve traffic conditions inthe village. The Parish Council has already started work by enlisting local volunteers to carry out a speeding project using a Smiley SID.

Other reasons for the increase include provision for the transfer of services from Cheshire East Council, contributions to Holmes Chapel Partnership and continuation of various projects including the Dane Valley and play areas.

However, the increase was somewhat less than predicted in the draft budget prepared before Christmas when an increase of 60% was proposed. The saving was achieved by omitting from the budget a number of small items and also the sum of £15,000 for the toilets in the village centre. In its winter newsletter, the Council consulted residents about the proposed increases and areas of large expenditure.

There were only two objections to a substantial increase in the parish rate but there were varying views about the toilets, so it is likely that investigations will continue into the improvement of the existing building, improving the facilities at the library and using local businesses like the public houses in the village.

A copy of the 2012-13 budget and 5 year plan can be viewed by clicking on the highlighted words. 

Dane Valley Improvements

The Dane Valley and Cranage Playing Field project is a joint project between Cheshire East Council (CEC), as landowner and Parish Councils of Holmes Chapel and Cranage. HCPC has accepted responsibility to progress work on the south side of the River Dane. This part of the project involves improving access to the valley, improving footpaths in the valley and conservation work. For funding reasons, it is planned the work will be carried out over a period of time to take best advantage of grant funding and the availability of finance.

The inaugural event, organised by HCPC and held on 5 November 2011, was to burn old fence posts and tree branches. A few days earlier CEC had removed old barbed wire fencing and, on the day, Village Volunteers were there to carry out some long overdue pruning of trees.

Some of the members of the Council organised a bonfire and a BBQ and the event was attended by 48 Scouts and their leaders who did the hard work of carrying the old fence posts and tree branches from all over the valley to the bonfire on the ground below Daresbury Close. The bonfire was lit before 1.00 p.m. and kept going by the scouts. They were rewarded by burgers and hot dogs. The work went on until late afternoon but finished before dark.

The event was supported by local MP, Fiona Bruce, who had a long walk over the valley to learn more about the overall project and then spent some time at the bonfire before talking to the volunteers.

Recently HCPC has obtained an ecological survey of the valley - at no cost to the Council due to a grant obtained through Holmes Chapel Partnership. It is intended the Scouts will maintain an interest in the project by involvement with ecological aspects.

A Dane Valley Programme Board has now been set up to manage progress. The Board will have representatives of the Parish Council, Cheshire East Council and Holmes Chapel Partnership. It is planned to involve others within the village such as the schools, scouts and ecology interest groups and we would be pleased to hear from any others who have suggestions.

The Scouts in Holmes Chapel are making bird and bat boxes for installation within the valley in order to attract a wider diversity of animals. These will be installed at the end of February in time for this years nesting season.

Updated February 2012 - see also 'Current Activities'

Precinct Car Park

At a recent meeting with the managing agents for the Precinct we were told that they are now taking enforcement measures to prevent long stay parking. The Precinct is privately owned, so not controlled by either Cheshire East or the Parish Councils - so beware exceeding the time limit on the notices in the car park.

Public Toilets in Holmes Chapel

The Parish Council is faced with taking over a number of services from Cheshire East Council, the most significant of which are the public toilets in the Square to the rear of the Cinnamon Lounge. Although not the smartest of facilities they do provide a public service every day for people visiting the village. We have a choice; to allow them to be closed and use the library toilets which are only open during library hours or to upgrade them and continue to finance them using money we raise by the Precept.

We do not yet have all the financial information we need to make the decision but it would be useful to hear the views of some residents as to how much they are valued. We need to think of their value in attracting and keeping people visiting the village and using our shops and facilities, the life-blood of the community. Although we individually may live close enough never to have to use them are they are facility that a civilised community should provide?

What do you think?

Benchmark Survey of Holmes Chapel

Along with other towns in Cheshire East, the Parish Council has been involved in a benchmark survey. This has entailed establishing the current state of the village in terms of its commercial vigour so that future changes can be confirmed by established measurements. For example, we would be able to confirm whether a recession or a new retail outlet had affected trade. The effect of new housing developments could also be measured. The aim would be to provide measurable data which could be used, for example, in planning discussions or applications for funding.

The process involved collecting information on a number of criteria (called key performance factors.) These are:

• Total number of commercial units
• Comparison / Convenience
• Key attractors / multiple traders
• Number of markets / traders
• Number of vacant units
• Prime retail property yields
• Zone A rentals
• Footfall counts
• Car parking usage
• Business confidence
• Visitor satisfaction
• Shoppers' origin postcode data

All the information has now been collected by a number of Councillors, the Assistant Clerk and a volunteer, David Ward to whom we are grateful. It is now being logged into a computer system which will allow us to make comparisons with an average for all participants and possibly to compare directly with similar sized town centres. Further work will be necessary in the future and results will be published when they are available.

In the meantime, thanks to the local businesses, residents and visitors to the village who have cooperated by completing the various surveys.