Pam and I visited Oakfield Avenue yesterday evening, knocking on doors to get signatures for a residents’ parking scheme in the road.  A petition had already been completed a while back, but was mislaid by the council.  The good news was someone had a copy of the old petition and we got a few extra names too.

The next step in the process will be the Council sending out information leaflets about residents parking and doing an evaluation on the road.

The whole process will take several months, during which time residents will have the opportunity to have their say and express any concerns before a final decision is made.

If it goes ahead, residents will be able to buy parking permits for £20 a year, or  additionally get a book of one-day permits for a pound a time, which may work out cheaper for those with occasional visitors.

Anyone with concerns about the process can contact Pam or myself.

The Police have been active in Diamond Jubilee Park, Cheadle, which has suffered from anti-social behaviour recently.

Three individuals have been identified and are being pursued with the possibility of ASBOs.

Additionally, because it’s not all stick, the police have been speaking to a charity - Ambassadors for Sport - about putting on football activities over the summer.

Pam and I will be keeping an eye on the situation, so please let us and the police know if you have problems in the area.

At Thursday’s Gatley Village Partnership, we had some discussion about parking on Stonepail Road.

The Council have been looking at improvements and, at the request of the Partnership some months ago, have included it in a wider look at the village parking and traffic situation instead of taking it on its own.

I’m hopeful we can find the right balance.  As with so many parking issues, we’ve got two competing concerns.

On the one hand, many people quite rightly want more parking in Gatley (hence all the work councillors and council officers have been putting into looking at ways to get a new car park behind the Tatton cinema site).  We’re cautious about putting down further restrictions to make the parking situation even worse.

On the other hand, there are genuine and important concerns about safety.  Ideally, we wouldn’t have parking at the top of Old Hall Road, for example.

Stonepail Road has just this issue.  It’s used extensively for parking and, being narrow, can’t take two vehicles passing when cars are parked down the side.

Elderly people from Guardian Lodge in particular need to cross to the bus stop on Church Road, and others are concerned about the general safety on the road - one of those “accident waiting to happen” concerns.

We’re hoping to agree plans for general improvements to Gatley village in the next few weeks, and I aim to make some changes to Stonepail Road as part of those.

Our local Police Inspector - Steve Gilbertson - has also agreed to bring figures on actual accidents reported to the police on Stonepail Road to the next partnership meeting.

For some years, the idea of making part of Gatley’s Church Road one-way has been floating around.   It was looked at by the Council sometime around 2006 and, at the request of the Gatley Village Partnership and Traders’ Association, another look was taken.

The findings were presented at the Gatley Village Partnership meeting last night.

The proposal was to make Church Road one way (southbound only) between Gatley Road and Gatley Green.

The main benefit would be 16 additional parking spaces.

However, several disadvantages were identified.

• would cause problems for buses, especially high frequency route 11 which would have to be diverted.
• extra pressure on Park Road/Altrincham Road junction with a lot more people turning right.
• possible loss of business for traders, as people who currently come into the village from the Wythenshawe/Heald Green side might not bother if they have to drive all the way around.
• possible faster traffic speed down Church Road - cars tend to drive faster when there’s no traffic coming the other way to worry about.
• A longer route for people living around Gatley Green and nearbye roads to go towards Cheadle.

Overall, it was felt that the benefits of a one-way system weren’t clear enough to move forwards with it at the moment.

Other improvements to Gatley are being considered, which I’ll write about separately.

Work by local residents on and around Coniston Road, Gatley, has resulted in the police taking action to reduce parking problems. Yeshurun Synagogue, which has always been supportive of efforts to reduce illegal parking, is also spreading the message.

Here’s what the police are saying:

Following numerous and significant complaints from residents living on Coniston Road and surrounding roads we, the Neighbourhood Policing Team, are undertaking positive action with respect to parking problems occurring on Saturday mornings.

The public footpath does form part of the highway and as such can be obstructed by the parking of vehicles on the pavement. Please ensure that wherever you park your vehicle it does not block the pavement or cause the road to be narrowed to such an extent as to prevent emergency vehicles from gaining access.

We would like to advise you that instances of obstruction parking, such as parking vehicles on the pavement, parking within 10 metres of a road junction, illegal parking on the yellow lines or parking on the road which causes an obstruction is an offence and will be liable to fixed penalty notice being issued.

This policy is an attempt for the police to work with the local community to resolve these considerable issues which are adversely affecting the area.

Please do NOT:

Obstruct the pavement;
Obstruct the road;
Park within 10 metres of a road junction;
Disregard the parking restrictions indicated.

Thank you for your help and cooperation.

West Neighbourhood Policing Team
Tel: 0161 856 9770
Email: stockport.westnpt@gmp.police.uk

I’m still waiting for Council officers to come back with proposals for improving parking retrictions on Coniston Road following a consultation late last year - I’m chasing it up.

Whilst both myself and Mark Hunter have done our bit in getting action on this, it’s the residents who have really made the difference. Hopefully we’ll see the situation improve in the coming weeks.

You might remember me reporting that one stretch of Cheadle High Street - immediately to the east of Massie Street on the southern side - didn’t have an enforceable parking restriction.

It seems that the pole and plate with the details of the parking rules had been removed some time ago, presumably as part of work on the pavement, and never replaced.

Despite it causing problems for traffic along the High Street, some people - one BMW owner in particular - were taking full advantage to park in the High Street pretty much all day, every day.

I’m glad to report that a new sign has been installed, so the parking restriction is back in force, and - when I’ve checked over the last few days, at least - the vehicles that were parking there have moved.

Pam and I have been wrestling with the issue of parking enforcement, especially in Cheadle, where most the complaints arise.

I’ll write more about it when I’ve time, but for now I’m pleased to report a boost for this week with two parking attendents spending the week in Cheadle village centre.

This is not a permanent measure - we’re all looking for longer-term fixes - but we’re hoping it will make a difference.

Last week I was writing about Cllr Maureen Walsh resigning from the Tory group on the Council.  I was interested to know why the Conservatives were being less than honest in their leaflets.

Syd Lloyd, another Tory councillor, didn’t want to answer that and, in time honoured fashion, challenged me on something totally different to distract attention.

Syd said that Lib Dem claims of Tory cuts were untrue and challenged me to provide evidence.

Well, I can only suggest that Cllr Lloyd reads the material his party is putting out.

In their recent newspaper, the Conservatives called for free parking in Council car parks.  Reasonable idea, of course - worth considering.  In the run-up to Christmas, the Lib Dems found ways to offer free parking on several days.

But I oppose it as a general scheme because the money from car parking in Stockport (several million pounds of revenue) pays for parking enforcement and a range of other services.  If the money doesn’t come in,  it means cuts to Council services.

The Lib Dems are working hard to improve parking enforcement at the moment - it seems odd that the Conservatives are calling for something that would reduce parking enforcement further,  leading to more cars parking illegally on our streets.

Thank you to the thirty-odd people who came to our consultation meeting about traffic in the schools hill area on Tuesday evening.  I felt it was a useful meeting: I think everyone had their say and a lot of issues were raised.

The issues mentioned include

• Long queues on Schools Hill for traffic turning onto Cheadle Road at the start and end of school.
• Heavy traffic and parking problems with children being taken to Ladybarn School.
• Speeding on Cheadle Road, Wilmslow Road, Schools Hill and Daylesford Road
• Poor visibility turning from Daylesford Road onto Schools Hill
• Water pooling at the bottom of Schools Hill
• A variety of issues relating to the heavy traffic and the Kingsway junction issues.

Sorry if I’ve missed anything - the list is from memory.  Special thanks to Steve Fox from the Council for ably assisting (Steve not only came along for the evening, he also did all the leaflets I delivered and booked the room).

On Monday night I spotted the streetlamp I’d reported a few weeks back - on the path between Belmont Road and South Park Road - still wasn’t working.  Turns out it was marked as fixed by the Council, so now they’ll take another look.

This morning I was out delivering more leaflets, including invitations to our public meeting next Tuesday evening to discuss traffic problems at the junction of Schools Hill and Wilmslow Road in Cheadle.

I delivered to Lynton Road, and parts of Gatley Road, Wilmslow Road, Schools Hill, Park Lodge Close, Valley Road and Valley Close.

On the way I spotted a few issues that I’ve reported to the Council

• Litter at the top of Schools Hill, on the side road that approached South View Gardens.
• Litter around the Wilmslow Road entrance to Brookfield Park.
• Graffiti on the Virgin Media box outside 224 Kingsway.
• Paving stone sticking up outside 232 Kingsway
• Branches across footpath, outside Turnfield House, by Turnfield Road.
• Graffiti on underpass beneath Cheadle Royal roundabout (the one over the A34).

I also delivered a letter to residents of Depleach Road - Pam and I are hoping we can find a good solution to their parking issues.

The Cheadle Area Committee meets on Tuesday 1st December, 6pm at the Ladybridge Residents Club, Edenbridge Road, Cheadle Hulme. All welcome to come along.

There’s one planning application up for consideration: DC043046, the erection of 5 no. three-storey mews houses at 176 Kingsway (this is on the Kingsway service road, South Park Road Estate).

Other issues on the agenda include amending the parking restrictions on Chapel Street, Cheadle and discussion about parking on pavements.

You can view and download the agenda here (PDF, 2.2MB) .

In the run up to Christmas, car parking in Cheadle will be free in Council Pay & Display car parks in Cheadle on:

• Saturday 28th November
• Saturday 5th December
• Saturday 12th December
• Saturday 19th December
• Christmas Day
• Monday 28th December
• New Years Day

This is not just in Cheadle but all the district centres: Romiley, Heaton Moor, Bramhall, Hazel Grove, Cheadle Hulme, Marple, Marple Bridge and Edgeley (excluding Armoury Street).

Gatley, of course, has free parking all the time anyway - just not enough spaces!

There will also be free parking in Stockport Town Centre in the run up to Christmas, but I can’t remember the exact details (I think it’s every Saturday again, but don’t hold me to that).

Police today handed out letters at Gatley Primary School warning parents that they risk a fine if they park illegally when dropping off or collecting children.

The letter points out that parents have been requested to park considerately and that certain parents have been written to.  The police are now saying they will issue fixed penalty notices to infringers.

In particular, the letter asks us parents to NOT

• block  the pavement or road
• park on the bend at a junction
• park on yellow lines when they’re in force
• drive whilst using a mobile phone
• block residents’ driveways

Christmas has come early for Stockport’s shoppers as the Council, in conjunction with town centre partners, announce that parking will be FREE in Merseyway car park from the 12th December up until Christmas Eve. The free parking at Merseyway runs all day from Saturday 12th December up to and including the 24th December. This is in addition to the free parking already offered by the Council in the run up to Christmas, as well as the bank holiday’s on the 25th and 28th December 2009 and the 1st January 2010.

Anyone familiar with Gatley Station will know there’s a patch of unused ground in the car park - land that you might think (well, I did) would be quite handy for some extra parking spaces.

I asked Council officers to look into it and had an email this morning saying that the land isn’t owned by Network Rail or the Council but by Electricity Northwest Ltd. We’re making further enquiries but clearly that makes the situation difficult.  At the very least, I’d like to see the owners maintain the land properly.

Walk around Cheadle village and you’ll see quite a few roads where there was obviously a double yellow line in the past and one of the lines has been painted out, leaving a single yellow.

Quite a few people have asked why it happened - and I didn’t know the answer.

Well, now I think I do.

A while ago the law changed with regard to double yellow lines.  It used to be that you could have a double yellow line that only applied at certain times of day, and you needed a sign to say so.

Now, double yellow lines are valid with no signage, but are all or nothing - you can’t have double-yellows with time restrictions.

That was exactly the situation in Cheadle village.  The double yellow lines only applied at certain times.  When the law changed, that stopped being valid.

The Council decided to retain the same parking restrictions, and that required moving to single yellow lines with appropriate signs.

An alternative would be to get double yellow lines  with no time restrictions (i.e. applied 24 hours a day, 7 days a week).  That can be done, but there’s a legal process to go through that’s both expensive and time-consuming because of the large area involved.

Residents at the north end of Oak Road and Oakfield Avenue were recently asked their preference on two different parking restriction schemes.

Over 80% asked for option 2, which was to have two-hour parking (with no return within two hours) along that northern section of Oak Road, plus junction protection around Oakfield Avenue to stop people blocking the junction.

That will now be implemented.

But there are a couple of other things to say on this.

First, stopping all-day parking there won’t suddenly make all those parkers vanish.  What I’d expect to happen is that most will find other places to park but, spread out a bit more, will cause less inconvenience to residents. (Some may decide to come in by bus or get a parking permit for the car park).

Second, there’s an issue with Oakfield Avenue which currently has no parking restrictions but is just too narrow to have cars parking all the way down it.  We’re looking again to get the right balance between residents parking and single or double yellow lines on Oakfield Avenue to ensure that residents and their visitors can park but the street isn’t blocked to ambulances, dustcarts and similar.

A couple of months ago, Mark Hunter and I met with a Council officer to look at the issue of parking restrictions on Coniston Road, on Gatley’s South Park Road Estate.

We were concerned that the parking restrictions down Coniston Road and the roads off are, to be honest, a bit of a mess.  There are two totally different sets of parking restrictions (some parts have no parking on Saturday mornings, others weekday daytime restrictions).  Other lines seem to have been overpainted so it’s not clear whether they’re single or double and the junction of Coniston with Kingsway isn’t clearly protected from parking.

The Council have now sent out letters asking residents for their opinions.  I’d like to get this right - not to have too many yellow lines where they’re not needed but, at the same time, make sure we stop parking where it needs to be stopped.

If you live in the area and you’ve received a consultation paper, please complete and return it: make your views count and help us make the right decision.