Iain Roberts

About three weeks ago we asked for your opinions on an idea to have a convenience store and car park on the old Tatton cinema site (instead of the convenience store and care home idea, rejected by the Council a few months ago).

In total, we received 81 replies. 40 were in favour of the proposal, 38 against and three expressed no opinion.

If we can find a proposal which the site’s owners are willing to look at and there’s clear support among Gatley residents, I will pursue it. In this case, fewer than half of those who responded were in favour of this particular proposal.

We will, of course, continue to work positively to find a good solution, but I won’t be pressing for this solution.

I said in my last piece that the developers still have the opportunity to appeal against the rejection of the previous proposal (convenience store and care home). Several people have asked me to explain how this works in more detail.

Stockport Council has rejected the planning application. By law, any rejected application can be taken to appeal with the Planning Inspectorate. If that happens, the developers and the Council each put their cases and the Inspectorate decides whether or not to overturn the decision.

Should the Planning Inspectorate decide to overturn a decision (which it often does), there’s nothing more the Council, local councillors or even an MP can do. Frustrating as it often is, the law is clear.

Earlier this year, Cllr Brian Millard worked hard to represent the will of the majority of local people and put a strong case that the proposal should be rejected, which it was. Should the developers appeal (they have until the end of the year to decide), I will work with Council officers and argue our case as best I can in front of the Planning Inspector, but the final decision will not be ours to make.

Our challenge as councillors is to work with the Council, the site’s owners and local people to find a solution for the site that enhances Gatley, whilst knowing that it could be taken completely out of our hands.

Alongside Pam, I will continue to fight for a positive outcome and to keep you informed of developments.

I took an hour out yesterday afternoon to cycle around west Gatley.  Starting out across the Carrs (where the top meadow has now been mown and work is being planned for the ponds), I headed along Lorna Grove and Dingle Grove, Altrincham Road, Park Road, Mount Grove, Cranston Grove, Malvern Avenue, Brookdale Road, Stonepail Close, Greenbank Avenue, Styal Road, around Baxter Park, then onto Windsor Avenue, Willcott Road, Clifton Drive, Barngate Road and Newby Drive.

OK, I’ll confess it was partly because I enjoy cycling around the local villages, but there was a point to it all.  In addition to speaking to a few people, I was once again on the trail of those nasty potholes and dodgy pavements.

So here are some I’ll be reporting to the Council shortly:

• Pothole on Park Road by the junction with Cranston Drive
• Pothole on Windsor Avenue near the junction with Park Road
• Dropped paving stone near 5 Brookdale Road
• Pothole just down from 4 Stonepail Close
• Several paving stones dangerously sticking up on Highcrest Avenue: outside numbers 16/18, 12/14, 8/10, 4/6.
• Pavement in poor condition by tree outside numbers 35/37 Halstead Grove
• Dropped paving stone outside 46 Halstead Grove
• Pothole by manhole cover on Church Road outside A&I supplies (by Gatley Green).

There - wasn’t that exciting?  If there’s a street issue that you spot, like potholes, dodgy pavements, overgrowing foliage or broken streetlamps, let me know.

Stockport Air Raid Shelters has a special event - Standing Together Remembering the Home Front - from 11am to 4pm on Saturday 24th October.

Visit their website for all the information.

The Cheadle Area Committee meets next Tuesday (6th October).  It covers Gatley, Cheadle, Heald Green and the northern part of Cheadle Hulme and can make planning decisions, spent money and all sorts of other things.

The Area Committee is open to all to attend, and to speak.

You can download the agenda here.  It includes lots of extra information, including where the committee meets and how to get there, but be warned - it’s a 2.5MB PDF document.

I’ve received this and thought I’d pass it on.  

The Stockport West Neighbourhood Policing Team has been finding out what issues are affecting resident’s lives and how they want them resolved.

Officers have visited more than 250 homes in Cheadle, asking the community how they would like their area policed and what priorities they want officers to focus on. The main issues that people want targeting are anti-social behaviour and youths causing annoyance.

Stockport Homes Limited West Area Housing joined in with this initiative with a walkabout which was led by the Neighbourhood Housing Officer Ken Higgins with local residents and other agencies. The key issues identified were litter in the street, dog fouling on a public footpath, fly tipping on a garage site and littered and untidy gardens.

In response to the actions a multi-agency litter pick of the streets was carried out, the dog mess was cleaned up, fly tipping was removed, residents with untidy gardens were visited and a skip was provided for them and other residents to dispose of their garden and other bulky refuse.

Police have already put a plan into action and seized a large amount of alcohol from youths in a weekend operation. Visits were also made to licensed premises to remind them of their responsibilities when selling alcohol.

The Youth Offending Team Reparation team and Stockport Homes identified three footpaths that needed cleaning. Offenders on probation will now carry out the work.

In addition to this, two search warrants were executed and two males were arrested for production of cannabis and are presently on police bail.

Sergeant Michael Phillipson, from the Stockport West Neighbourhood Policing Team said: “As part of the Policing Pledge we are talking to residents to find out their concerns and acting on them. This is not just a short-term operation, as feedback from the public will enable us to plan and prioritise our resources for the future with the main aim of making the area an even safer place to live.”

Councillor Sue Derbyshire, Executive Member for Communities, said: “This is a very important Police led operation which has been supported by the Council. It is vital that we consult with residents to see how we can improve the quality of life and then look to act on it.”

As part of the sweep police referred 85 residents for a free fire risk assessment. More than 350 items of property was marked and more than 80 people joined a Neighbourhood Watch scheme.

From Cheadle Village Partnership meeting:

The current aim is for Tescos to open in Cheadle by the end of November, but it may be couple of weeks earlier as work is currently ahead of schedule.

The Church, which owns the site and is developing the upper rooms, is looking for feedback from the community on what could go into the upper rooms (more than you might think, apparently).  There will be open days on Fridays and Saturdays in October and a section should appear on the Church website where you can find out more information.

Another Cheadle Village Partnership item.

We were updated on the latest plans for Christmas displays in Cheadle & Gatley.

In addition to Christmas lights, there will be a large Christmas tree on Cheadle Green, another in Church gardens and trees available for shop fronts.  Gatley will have three large trees.

I have to say I think this is the right way to go.  In Gatley. local residents wanted to try a sustainable tree.  Instead of getting big cut trees each year, the idea was to grow a Christmas tree on Gatley Green that we could use every year.

Unfortunately, there were problems with trees dying and, whilst the latest one does seem to be doing OK, it just hasn’t grown to be very big.

So now seems to be a good time to say that it was worth a go, but just hasn’t worked so back to Plan A.

In Cheadle, the recurring issue of Christmas lights for Massie Street was discussed.  The problem seems to be one of health & safety with concerns that the street lamps can’t carry the lights.  I won’t claim to understand this one, but that seems to be the answer at the moment.

It was also noted that a new streetlamp costs £5,000.

Another item from the Cheadle Village Partnership meeting.

There’s a small area you probably know near to the White Hart pub in Cheadle.  By Gatley Road, there’s a nice flagged area with a few benches and the flagstones were stolen a while ago.

Since 2005, this area has actually been privately owned and maintained by the owners of North House (the building directly behind it).  It is not currently maintained or owned by the Council.

There was some discussion at the meeting of whether the Council should take over maintance again.   This is something I’ll be looking into.

An item from Cheadle Village Partnership:

For some time, the Cheadle Green Focus Group have been looking at how to improve the Green and make it, once a again, more of a focal point for the village.  This has had full backing from the Area Committee (i.e. the local councillors).

There is now a detailed plan which  Cheadle residents are being consulted on.  Click on the thumbnail images for more details.

Here are the planning applications that have come in this week for Cheadle & Gatley ward:

30 OLD HALL ROAD, GATLEY, STOCKPORT, CHEADLE, SK8 4BE SK8 (DC/042905)

New shop front to existing office unit

MORE INFORMATION: http://tinyurl.com/y8ta349
MAP: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=sk8+4be&z=15
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: http://tinyurl.com/yajtge7

8 NANSEN ROAD, GATLEY, STOCKPORT, CHEADLE, SK8 4JL SK8 4JL (DC/042897)

Existing attached garage and rear outhouse to be removed. Erection of two storey and rear single storey extension to detached house with raised patio to rear

MORE INFORMATION: http://tinyurl.com/n7rl5s
MAP: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=sk8+4jl&z=15
WHAT DO YOU THINK?: http://tinyurl.com/oa6pc2

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