Update on the by-pass petition

Please see below the response I've received from Cheshire East Council and my subsequent response:


Dear Mr Williams

I am writing to you in response to the petition “Build the by-pass first”, that you have submitted to the Council for consideration.

The Council understand the congestion issues that are currently experienced in Middlewich, particularly on the A54 corridor that runs from the M6 at Junction 18 through Middlewich to Winsford. The Middlewich Eastern Bypass is expected to help alleviate some of these congestion issues and is required to deliver additional housing in the area.

The Council continues to work with the developers of the Midpoint 18 site to progress a bypass, which would secure employment as well as providing traffic relief.

The Council remains extremely committed to delivery of a bypass, as it is seen as essential for the town centre. As a result the Council are considering how it can take the lead role in delivering the bypass, rather than rely upon the existing Section 278 agreement, and is already in dialogue with Network Rail given that any new road will have the cross the railway at its southern end.

We will continue to work with the Local Members, the Local MP and Town Council as the scheme progresses.

Kind regards

On Behalf of Cheshire East Council Strategic Infrastructure


Thanks for the response, I’m sure that you will not be surprised to hear that I don’t think it is satisfactory. To make you aware the following resolution was passed by Middlewich Town Council last night:

“That Middlewich Town calls upon Cheshire East Council to bring forward a schedule of works for the completion of the eastern bypass with a start date before the end of 2016.”

I don’t believe this response satisfies the wishes of the more than 1,500 Middlewich residents who signed the petition and as the number of signatures exceeded Cheshire East’s threshold for the matter to be put on the agenda of a full council meeting, I would be grateful if you could advise me of the arrangements for this and when it will happen.

Regards

Cllr David Williams
Middlewich Town Council

There are two ways to sign the Middlewich By-Pass petition

Online here

Or download and print off this PDF Please sign it yourself and ask friends, family and neighbours to do so as well.

Middlewich Guardian: Petition is launched to get the Middlewich Bypass finished

Read the article

Sign the petition

Petition: Build the Middlewich by-pass first

Labour's council candidates for Middlewich have today launched a petition that calls on Cheshire East Council to immediately resume work on the Middlewich by-pass and complete it before new major developments are opened.

Sign the petition here

Labour's Rachel Pendleton says: "Middlewich cannot cope with any more major development until the by-pass is completed. It has now been delayed by over 30 years; in that time the town’s population has almost doubled.

"Congestion is a major issue for residents and local businesses. If the council wants Middlewich to take the burden of more major developments they must first complete the by-pass. That is Labour policy, we will not support any further planning applications for major developments in Middlewich that impact on traffic in the town and don't have substantial benefits for residents. 

"We are asking Middlewich people to support this position and if we can get 1,500 signatures the issue will be on the full council agenda straight after the election.

"We are not prepared to accept that there is no money for the Eastern By-pass. Future development in the town has to be sustainable and Middlewich has reached maximum capacity. It's time to draw a line in the sand and that is exactly what this petition does."

Labour's candidates are going door-to-door talking to residents and asking them to sign the petition. The response so far has been excellent. It is also available to sign online on Cheshire East Council's website

 

This petition is running alongside another petition calling on the Government to act to get the by-pass built. The organisers of both petitions have agreed to work together and combine them to present a united front to Cheshire East Council and the Government.

Please support both petitions:

Cheshire East Council

HM Government

School places crisis

Former Middlewich High Headteacher, Martin Forster, has warned of a potential school places crisis if the council doesn't act now.

Martin, now a Labour council candidate for Middlewich, says: ''We have great schools in Middlewich providing an excellent education for local children, but that is under threat from overcrowding. Cheshire East schools are already oversubscribed by 10% and that situation is only going to be made worse with all the new houses being built. It will be my priority, if I am elected as your councillor, to

prevent us going back to the dark days of Margaret Thatcher - a time of overcrowded classrooms and scarce resources. Labour fixed that in Government, with Middlewich getting two brand new primary schools at Park Road and St Mary's and extensions at Cledford.

I've worked with the Independent councillors and, whilst they're nice people, they don't have the clout to sort out these big issues. As headteacher at Middlewich we replaced and upgraded many old buildings and facilities, as well as improving sports facilities with a new floodlit Astroturf pitch available for community use.''

I will use my experience and expertise to benefit the schoolchildren of Middlewich.

Labour will end the planning crisis

Communities are rightly angry about the number of housing estates springing up on the green edges of our towns and villages. This flood of speculative housing developments is directly caused by Government changes to planning rules and the failure of Conservative controlled Cheshire East Council to have a Local Plan.

Dr Darren Price, Labour's Parliamentary candidate for Middlewich, is a housing and planning expert and says: “The Conservatives have relaxed regulation and effectively allowed developers to build houses on the greenfield sites, which make them the most profit. Labour will give more power to local people to redress the balance. We will not reduce the number of houses being built, but change where they are built by giving a greater voice to communities. We will also change the type of houses being built because we desperately need more truly affordable homes.

"The real problem is the  effect that all of these unregulated new homes are having on the existing infrastructure of our towns and villages. Roads simply cannot cope with the additional traffic, it’s taking longer to see a GP and there is an increasing problem with school places. That is why I'm backing the petition organised by Middlewich Labour Candidates to get the by-pass built.''

Congleton Constituency Labour Party are calling on Cheshire East Council to end waste, extravagance and incompetence. They have cited thirteen cases of poor stewardship that have cost council taxpayers millions of pounds. Residents in are rightly outraged at the catalogue of waste, extravagance and incompetence and we are demanding that the council gets better.
Council taxpayers money is being poured down the drain, or quite literally into a big hole in Lyme Green just outside Macclesfield. It is a matter of shame that we are most likely to read about the antics of this disgraced council in the pages of Private Eye magazine, where their poor stewardship is regularly lampooned.
What Cheshire East gets up to might make us a laughing stock, but it is no joke to local residents. The money wasted could have repaired our potholed roads, improved services and saved jobs. These are serious matters and we want to know what the leader of the council is going to do to address them before even more money is wasted”.

 

Symptoms of a sick council:

Waste

• Tory-run Cheshire East Council blows £810k on Lyme Green waste plant fiasco. They pay consultants £1,500/day, totalling £100k, to find out what had happened and then refuse to publish the report.

• Council forks out £19m in redundancy pay to 1,170 workers, then spends £25m on temps to plug the gaps.

• National Audit Office blasts the Tories’ weak political leadership and criticises value for money in Sept 2012.

• Council refuses to release a report on the Bewilderwood project in Tatton Park. The Information Commissioner compares Bewilderwood with Lyme Green and orders the report to be released.

Extravagance

• Chief Executive appointed at outset on £230k / annum.

• The Chief Executive pockets a £93k severance pay-out after just three years in the job.
 
• Tory leader says they’re “reaching for the stars”.
 
• Interim Chief Exec gets £64k for three month contract, which was renewed without advertisement or interview.

Incompetence

• Charges on pavement cafés imposed then reduced- the tables are in, out, shake them all about.

• Tories preside over the car parking charges fiasco. Congleton town suffers 30p per hour, everywhere else in Congleton constituency is free.

• Dial-a-Ride merry-go-round: Pensioner’s free bus passes made invalid on dial-a-ride; service subsidy cut and the dial-a-ride charity forced out; service handed to a private company with bus passes re-instated.

• The former Tory portfolio holder for ensuring landlords know their legal duties towards the safety of tenants is now a convicted criminal landlord.

• Council failure to draw up a Local Plan leads to a deluge of speculative house building applications on greenfield sites.

• Councillors claim 52p per mile petrol allowance, 7p above the HMRC recommended rate. Labour Councillors voluntarily claim the lower taxman approved allowance.

Kids’ playgrounds good enough?

Labour Councillor Allan Croll is concerned about play facilities for kids. Allan said, 'Fountain Fields playground is run-down, whereas other towns seem to have better and more up-to-date equipment.

Kids are not inspired to go out and play when parks and play areas aren't up to scratch.

I’d like to hear parents’ views about what play equipment they would like to see provided for their children to use'.

Please let us have your views on Middlewich play facilities by clicking the comments link below.