Before last night’s Gatley Village Partnership, I popped over to Belmont Road to check the lamps on the Belmont side of the railway bridge, where the path runs across to South Park Road.

One had failed well before Christmas, then a second went.  I’d asked the Council to fix them but obviously something went wrong, as the Council had marked them as fixed but they still didn’t come on.

I chased again a little while ago, so I was very pleased to see both lamps working last night.   It’s not a long path, but it’s got a few twists and turns that put you out of sight of either end at some points - definitely not one you want to be walking down in pitch blackness.

I was very glad to see that the no-entry signs at the north end of Old Hall Road, Gatley (around the triangle) are now lit again, after several months.  I’d been told there was a technical issue being investigated, so it seems it’s been solved.

I’m aware of a number of other signs that should be lit and aren’t around Cheadle & Gatley - those are being chased up too.

I’m yet again chasing up getting the lamps fixed on the path from Belmont Road to South Park Road, in Gatley.  Now two are broken, throwing half the path into pitch darkness.

I’ve also reported a few faulty streetlights on Styal Road.  Three of these (between West Drive and South Drive) are actually in the small part of Styal Road that’s in Manchester.  A fourth, near Falls Grove, comes under Stockport.

At yesterday’s Local Area Committee, I’d asked for the issue t Cheadle’s Christmas lights to be put on the agenda and Council officer Brian Nash waited very patiently for the item to come up - over three hours into the meeting!

I commented that I’d had lots of positive comments about the Christmas displays this year - the lights and trees.  Gatley looked great, and Cheadle did too - except for the five lights that were out.

Cllr Jones also mentioned problems with the small Christmas trees for shops, which didn’t really work (partly because Brian was in hospital for much of the period).

Although the street-lighting people didn’t get the five sets of lights working in Cheadle, they did (at a day’s notice) get the lights for the tree on Cheadle Green working when it was needed.

We’re all keen to improve the lights year-on year.  My view is that we need to avoid over-stretching - these things are tricky to organise and we  do better to put on a good display and do it well than to attempt to do more and more and have it go wrong when something unforeseen happens (an it always does, of course!)

On Saturday I reported quite a few faulty lights around Cheadle and Gatley.

To be honest, I wasn’t expected much to be done right away, with the bad weather and it being the week before Christmas.

So I’m quite impressed that some have been fixed, including the Christmas star outside Barclays Bank  in Gatley (where just about everything Christmassy seems to be working now) and the lamp near my house on Frances Avenue.

The light in the Gatley Green car park is fixed too (I reported that one a little earlier).

I would have  gone round to check the progress on more lamps, but somehow staying in my warm home with the family won out last night.  I did think the Christmas tree outside Gatley’s bowling green was looking very nice though, with the snow all around it.

A warning for today - watch out on the pavements, some of which are getting treacherous.

What better way to spend the Saturday evening before Christmas than driving around Cheadle and Gatley spotting faulty lights?

OK, I didn’t spend more than an hour before deciding a warm house was definitely preferable, but I picked up a few issues that I’ve passed onto the Council.

1. Christmas lights in Cheadle & Gatley
- The star outside Barclays Bank, Church Road in Gatley is still not working
- On Gatley Road, Cheadle the Christmas light outside Meadows Cycle Shop is not working.
- At the junction of Wilsmlow Rd and the High Street, the Christmas light outside the White Hart is not working
- On High Street, Cheadle the Christmas light outside Thomsons isn’t working
- On High Street, Cheadle the Christmas light outside the Royal Bank of Scotland isn’t working
- At the corner of Stockport Road and Manchester Road in Cheadle, the Christmas light isn’t working.

2. Streetlights in Cheadle
- Lamp 14 on Ashfield Road (south end) at the corner of Whitegates Road not working
- On the Massie Street (East) car park,Cheadle, the lamp nearest to M.J. Scott (in the north west corner of the car park) isn’t working.
- Lamp 29 outside 68 Wilmslow Road, Cheadle isn’t working
- Lamp 22 outside 56 Wilmslow Road, Cheadle isn’t working
- Lamp 5 opposite 3 Broadway, Cheadle isn’t working
- Lamp 6 outside 3 Broadway, Cheadle isn’t working
- Lamp 9 outside 17 Broadway, Cheadle isn’t working
- Lamp 13 outside 31 Broadway, Cheadle, isn’t working

- The lamp outside Costa Coffee, High Street, Cheadle isn’t working (though the Christmas lights on the same post are)
- The lamp outside Cheadle Library, Ashfield Road, in the centre of the parking bays, isn’t working.

3. Illuminated streetsigns in Cheadle and Gatley
- At the junction of Milton Crescent and Gatley Road, Cheadle there are four illuminated speed signs.  Three are not lit.
- At the north end of Old Hall Street, Gatley, by the grass triangle there are four no entry signs, none of which are lit.

I noticed this evening that more of the Christmas lights are out in Cheadle - including several along the High Street that were working a few days ago.

I’ve reported these to the Council’s street-lighting people who I imagine will be as frustrated as me that the lights are faulty.

Over the last few days, I’ve reported several lights in need of repair around Cheadle & Gatley.

• In the centre of Cheadle, four Christmas lights are faulty - one at the bottom of Massie Street and three around the High Street/Wilmslow Road junction.
• In Gatley there’s still one Christmas star not working - outside Barclays.
• At the start of the slip road from Kingsway southbound onto the South Park Road estate, the signs should be lit up and aren’t.
• I’ve asked for the pea lights in Walter Stansby Park to be connected up.  The light were bought by the friends of the park - the Council should just plug them in each year.
• I’m also chasing the Council on streetlights not working where Ashfield Road crosses Whitegates, outside numbers. 24/26/43/45.

Do let me know if you spot faulty lights or lit street signs.  I spent a lot of time around the ward, but I don’t get everywhere after dark.