6 The Chronicle, Thursday, 27th January, 2011. www.chronicleseries.co.uk

SOMERFORD PARISH COUNCIL

Councillor is thanked for all his ‘hard work and commitment’ over the years

The l a t e s t meeting o f Somerford Parish Council t ook p l ace on Monday, 10th J anuary, a t The Schoolroom, Davenport Chapel.

The council had i nvited Coun Norman Alcock t o t he meeting t o make a f o rmal r e s entat i on f o r t he s e r v i ce he had g i ven t o t he council.

The chairman Coun David Lancake t hanked Coun Alcock f o r h i s hard work and commitment.

The c l e r k Ju l i e Mason had o rganised a col l ec t i on and t he councillors had b r ought some garden centre g i f t vouchers.

There was a l a rge vote o f t hanks and Coun Alcock was asked t o r e t urn t o fu t ure meeti ngs.

J ay Ashall, f r om J ay Ashall Associates Chartered Architects i n Holmes Chapel, a t t ended t o t a l k t o t he parish council about l and adjacent t o Poolwood Cottages i n Somerford.

There had r ecently been an application r e f used f o r 10 a ff o r dable houses on t he l and due t o l ack o f f ac i l i t i e s .

Mr Ashall came a s part o f a consultation exercise, which was part o f a new r ocedure, t o a sk t he parish council members what t heir f ee l i ngs were about p l anning consent f o r l a rge p i eces o f l and.

Mr Ashall explained t hat t here would be another applica t i on being submitted and s a i d he valued t he council’s opinion.

There were t he t h r ee poss i b i l i t i e s : t he r e submission o f an a ff o r dable homes applicat i on; r e l ocation o f t he l andowner ’s agricultural contract o r ’s business p r emises, a s he f e l t t he s i t e would be more su i t able t han h i s current one; t h r ee p r i vate homes t hat would be s e l f - energy e ff i c i ent .

Coun Lancake s a i d t he s i x acres had a lways been agri cul t u r a l l and and could not understand t he need t o develop i t .

The council s a i d i t would consider each application i ndividually but would p r e f e r t he l and t o s t ay a s agricultura l .

The chairman t hanked Mr J Ashall f o r h i s t ime and welcomed t he i dea o f t he consult a t i on p r ocess.

The chairman i n t r oduced Mrs S Broome, o f Holmes Chapel Road, Somerford, a s she had applied f o r t he r ecent vacancy o f councillor. I t was agreed t o co-opt her onto t he council.

Coun Topping s a i d i t was necessary t o have a v i ce

Thank you for your service: Coun Alcock, right, who is retiring after 14 years with Somerford Parish Council, with chairman Coun Lancake.

chairman on t he council. The c l e r k was a sked t o put i t on t he agenda f o r t he next meeti ng.

The c l e r k s a i d t hat Mr D Chan had t aken over f r om Mr J Harris with t he speed d i s p l ay unit , and t he s i gnpost purchased by t he council was s t i l l with Cheshire East.

She had spoken t o Mr Chan and i t was awaiting h i s approval f o r i ns t a l l a t i on.

The chairman s a i d he had not put out t he Cheshire East speed d i sp l ay unit , a s t he weather had been so bad. He s a i d a r o t a should be devised, t o use i t on Holmes Chapel Road and Blackfirs Lane.

No p l anning applications had been submitted s i nce t he l a s t meeting. The council noted t hat i t had not s een t he p l anning application f o r 186, Holmes Chapel Road, i nvolvi ng t he demolition of a bungal ow and building a new p r ope r t y.

The c l e rk was asked t o cont ac t Cheshire East and r eport back.

Coun C Bailey and two o t her r e s i dents had submitt ed a l e t t e r t o Mr A F i sher a t Cheshire East p l anning department r egarding a l e t t e r f r om Mrs D Ackerley and t he “dis t u r b i ng ac t i v i t i e s ” on l and adjacent t o Lyndale on Holmes Chapel Road..

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Coun J o h n Wray h a d s p o k e n t o t h e owners , who h a d a g r e e d t o t i d y t h e s i t e , t h o u g h t h e r e h a d b e e n l i t t l e c h a n g e .

Brereton Parish Council had s en t an email t o t he c l e r k r egarding i t s i nvolvement. Coun Bailey was upset with t he l ack o f p r ogress.

Coun Kath Wainwright had r eported t he b l ocked d r a i n outside a p r operty on 30th November and a f t e r s everal t e l ephone conversations f r om herself and t he c l e r k and a s i t e v i s i t , t he s i t uat i on s t i l l had not been r e so l ved by 5 t h J anuary.

At t h i s t ime a f i e l d belongi ng t o Radnor Bank Farm was f l ooded, covering up t o one acre o f l and. Couns Topping and Wray had t he a t t ended s i t e over t he weekend and r eported i t t o Coun Rod Menlove. The s i t uat i on would now hopefully be r e so l ved but i n t he meantime some o f t he p l ant i ng f o r next year had been damaged.

WILMSLOW

The grids on Chelford Road and Brereton Heath Lane were s t i l l not completely unblocked. There was a s i gn bent over on t he j unction t o Blackfirs Lane and Holmes Chapel Road. The pavement a t t he Blackfirs Lane j unction s t i l l had not been d r opped f o r t he d i s abled l ady a f t e r t he c l e r k had spoken t o t he t own c l e r k over 12 months ago.

There had been a r equest r egarding t he r e - posit i oning o f t he post box on Chelford Road and Blackfirs Lane due t o building works being carr i ed out . Resolved: t he post box t o be s i t uated 50 yards down Chelford Road on t he l e f t hand s i de when t r avell i ng t owards t he main r oad A534 (Green Tree Farm s i de) .

Next meeting: Monday, 14th March a t 7 . 30pm a t t he School Room, Davenport Chapel.

(Submitted photograph).

Pipes on private land could be flood source

The council may have to close a popular public walkway in Congleton when it rains heavily because of ongoing flooding problems.

Richard Bentley, from Kestrel Close, has written to Cheshire East Council to complain about the flooding of a path linking Howey Lane to Lambert’s Lane. He said that when it rains the path is impassable.

A response from the council said it may be because pipes on private land are hard to access.

Mr Bentley believes the council has been dragging its heels since he first raised the issue a year ago and he contacted them again in August.

In a letter to Coun Andrew Knowles, Cabinet member for health and wellbeing, he says: “The path is again flooded and impassable, so the flooding issue is clearly unresolved.”

He said the council has an obligation to keep the path free from flooding and urges them to unblock the drain responsible.

But Coun Knowles believes the issue is more complicated than a blocked drain, and replied: “We are aware of the issue of the periodic flooding along this public bridleway and the public rights of way team has been monitoring the route since it last flooded.

“The existing ditch has been working, but it struggles to cope during periods of heavy rainfall. The team has had the drains surveyed by cameras in the past, as suggested by Mr Bentley, which has revealed no blockages.”

Coun Knowles added: “We suspect the problem may relate to the small diameter of the networ of drainage pipes located on private land adjacent to the bridleway, which presents a complicating factor as it cannot easily be accessed.

“The route was last inspected on 11th January. The ditch was found to be very full and wate was encroaching onto the path, but it remained easily passable. Any further heavy rain may cause the route to completely flood, in which case, the route may have to be closed on a temporary basis.”

He went on: “We appreciate the inconvenience which this flooding causes, and we can assure bridleway users that we will continue to monitor the situation and review potential ways of alleviating it, taking into account current legislation and resources available.”

The wedding took place on 18th December at St James’s Church, Congleton, of Miss Susan Mellor, daughter of Mr and Mrs Michael and Jean Mellor to Mr Stephen Holly, son of Mrs B Moreton and Mr D Holly.

Given away by her father, the bride wore an ivory diamond white dress with a pearl bodice and waterfall skirt. She carried a bouquet of ivory roses with holly.

Bridesmaids were Mrs P Challinor (bride’s sister), Rachel Challinor (bride’s niece) and Miss J Ashton. They wore purple calf length dresses with straps and wraps and carried bouquets of ivory and purple roses.

Pageboy was Connor Barnard (bridegroom’s nephew).

Best man was Mr Carl Leese and groomsmen were Messrs Daniel and John Challinor.

Fr Sanderson officiated at the service and the hymns “All things bright and beautiful” and “In the bleak midwinter” were sung.

A reception to 70 guests was held at the Lion and Swan, Congleton during the day with 110 guests joining the couple at night.

Their honeymoon in Amsterdam, Prague and Venice has been delayed until June as the bridegroom broke his leg two weeks before the wedding.

The bride is employed by JHP Training and the bridegroom works for MPP Global Solutions. They will make their home in Congleton.

(Submitted photograph). Will GPs or politicians attend NHS meeting?

By Kelly Harris A public meeting to discuss the future of the NHS takes place tonight (Thursday), but it is unclear how many medical professionals will attend.

The meeting has been organised by a group of Congleton residents who describe themselves as

HS users. The aim is to explain proposed changes to the health service which the group says concerns every single erson in the country. The town’s GPs were at the top of the invite list as they will e in charge of their budget once the Government abolishes primary care trusts, currently responsi-

le for funding surgeries. But doctor have not committed themselves to attending due to the “short notice”.

Melanie Lyman, practice manager of Lawton House Surgery, said that she received a flyer on Tuesday, which informed her that the meeting was taking lace. When asked if any of the GPs would attend, she told the “Chronicle”: “I really don’t know at this point, the flyer only arrived this morning so I’m not sure if anyone can attend at such short notice.”

Mia George, practice manager at the Readesmoor practice on Congleton Road, said: “I’m not quite sure yet, I don’t know what I’m doing that evening. I just got the flyer this morning.”

The “Chronicle” also tried to contact Meadowside Medical Centre on Mountbatten Way but had no response at the time of going to press last night (Wednesday).

Congleton’s Tory MP Fiona Bruce has been criticised by one resident for declining an invitation to the meeting.

Reasons Michael Knowles of Howey Lane said: “She should be present to tell us precisely what those changes will be, whether they will lead to the privatisation of the NHS or not, and tell us precisely what her reasons are for voting for them.

“She cannot and she shouldn’t hide. She should have the guts to stand up before her voting public and give it us straight.”

He added that the group had given Mrs Bruce a choice of dates for the meeting but she had not responded.

Mrs Bruce has said she would have attended the meeting but has a prior engagement at a Congleton High School awards evening.

As previously reported in the “Chronicle” she said: “I have met with this group of residents in my constituency surgery and discussed the issue.”

Mrs Bruce added that she is “perfectly happy” to discuss the NHS’s future at her surgeries.

Group spokesman Jane

Knowles, of Howey Lane, said the group would be prepared to have another meeting with Mrs Bruce.

Mr Knowles also said “all the councillors and members of the Conservative and Liberal Democratic party in Congleton” should attend the meeting as “they are one party on this”.

Conservative Congleton Town Councillor Doug Parker expressed regret that he was unable to attend the meeting.

Coun Parker said: “I’m giving a talk about Romania to the Bosley WI on Thursday night, otherwise I would have attended. Unfortunately there is a budget meeting on Thursday night, so I think that most of the town councillors will be tied up.”

Coun Parker added that if another meeting was arranged he would be “delighted to attend”.

Engagement Cheshire East Mayor and Congleton West Councillor Gordon Baxendale, also a Conservative, was unable to attend too. He said: “I have a mayoral engagement.”

Coun Baxendale added that he only found out about the meeting on Monday when he was approached to represent Mrs Bruce.

Mr Knowles said that it wasn’t possible for the organisers to reschedule the meeting to compensate for lack of officials attending and explained that it had been “difficult” for the organisers to put the meeting together.

The Chronicle, Thursday, 27th January, 2011. www.chronicleseries.co.uk 7

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