Temporary solution to Alderley Road parking problems

I think the issue is the cost of parking, could Menlove & his friends not see this coming when they approved all the office building in WIlmslow. CEC shuting the stable door after the horse has bolted......as per usual.

By the way, how much is Wilmslow High charging Cheshire East for the parking spaces?

Local Con Cllrs may have been working within CEC for several months … but these serious parking problems have been going on ignored by them for years!! …. Really !! Obfuscation at its best !! …It is a frustration that CEC is so slow moving and impervious to Wilmslow parking problems flagged up many times over these many years until now ! …. Is it any coincidence there are only a matter of months before the next local election? … The imposed CEC Local Plan is a farce and having ignored residents for so long on this and other important key planning matters, any Local Transport Plan will go the same way with the same dissolute libertines at the wheel…. Leeside Way was due a Lyme Green daubing of yellow paint, impeded by residents common sense, over the short-sightedness on offer, and whilst this is now used by displaced commuters and visitors, undoubtedly those who commence parking at the High School will further displace Tutors / Students at WHS who return in a matter of weeks. … Whilst CEC further parking restrictions are pended, the impact of using WHS will have a further displacement effect.. A new multi storey car park may be needed that was mentioned years ago, … But who’s going to fund that ? ... Developers ? Royal London ? Sainsburys ?... The delayed A34 access road development at Summerfield , we are reliably informed from common sense independent Cllr Fox, was conditional on the Adlington ‘Never build on these fields’ Rd development being approved… So the opportunity to support infrastructure in a similar manner with a parking solution at Royal London, Broadway Meadow is where ?? Ignored ?? Never Considered ?? …. Opportunities lost ! Meanwhile the stable door is blowing in the breeze .

Yellow lines on Alderley Road is not a solution.

I accept that it will give temporary relief but it solves a problem on a length of road of about 200m. The problem will recur somewhere else -probably within hours of the High School reopening to pupils in early September.

We can not go back to the days where Wilmslow had no office workers and it is not fair to blame the developers for building offices without car parks. The planners would never have allowed the offices to be built if they included a parking space for every employee. There would be more car parks than offices.

What we forget is that until relatively recently, those giving approval of office building in town centres were, quite deliberately, trying to discourage the use of cars and they were encouraged in this by the planning authorities. This all, of course, assumed that the town centres would be supported by reliable, affordable, flexible and safe public transport networks (and flexible means being responsive to modern working patterns which includes early morning, late evening and weekend services).

We now know that under current and recent governments (and almost certainly, future governments) reliance on public transport is impossible - so we are left with only one alternative.

We have to build a car park and it has to be big - in fact, very big. It also has to be secure and safe for users.

There is no where in the town where such a site could be acquired at an economic cost - or even at any cost.

So we come to the only logical answer - build outside the town and support it with a free bus service that runs from 7am to 10pm. Without this bus service, the car park will not be used.

I do recognise that this will impact on undeveloped land but not all undeveloped land is attractive. The area around the Total Fitness opposite the Handforth Dean development may contain fishing ponds but it does not add anything to the beauty of our surroundings. I am sure others could suggest other suitable sites.

This is a joke! "evidence led requirement based on police collision reports"? The bottleneck that occurs on the stretch of Alderley Rd., particularly between Kenmore and Sainsbury's is just ridiculous! Those that park there are purely selfish. My husband and I struggled to get through the other day, with oncoming traffic reducing the space. Buses and trucks have no choice but to wait which again causes a build up. CEC are constantly the butt of our jokes because of their total inadequacy and this does absolutely nothing to put them in a better light! Let's just hope there are some collisions for the police to report on and something may be done!

Strikes me that this an excellent quick fix. Clearly yellow lines on Alderley Road are needed and in the pipeline , also additional parking spaces. The public in Wilmslow want jobs so moaning about increasing offices seems counterproductive.

I wondered why Gravel Lane, off Knutsford Road, was suddenly empty of cars! Great idea, but shame it's all going to return in a few weeks...

On Tuesday I turned right onto Albert Road from Kenmore Surgery's car park and, well, waited for the 'standing traffic' on Alderley Road to move... After a few moments I realised that it wasn't standing traffic at all, but a 'parked' car completely jutting out (so much it looked like the end of a line of traffic)! I had to swing right out, around the car, into oncoming vehicles to join Alderley Road!

You can park in Sandbach town centre at no cost. Elsewhere in CE parking costs less than Wilmslow.

CEC can raise charges to be in line with Wilmslow and use the money to fund our multi story carpark on the large car park near to the swimming pool.
Income will be substantial.

Blaming local government and others as being slow is no excuse at all. Conservative Cllrs do something please, so that we don’t think that you are a total shower.

The inconsiderate motorists who choose to park (legally) on Alderley Road will be asked to adopt this 'temporary' solution instead. Why should they? If they were concerned about the congestion and risks caused, they wouldn't park on Alderley Road at all.

Our local councillors have taken a long period of time to devise this temporary solution. Autumn term for Wilmslow High school staff starts on September 3rd. This solution has a maximum lifespan of two weeks.

Cheshire East propose to take no action in the short term to address a clear risk to road users that has been highlighted by many residents "unless there is an overwhelming evidence-led requirement. This will be based on police collision reports and other sources of traffic data.". So Cheshire East will wait for collisions and injuries before acting. That is both negligent and arrogant.

If Cheshire East is waiting for an accident to happen, knowing that there is a problem, they are liable for the consequences and could be sued for negligence. This short term fix is not a solution.

So Cllr Menlove says there will be a new, albeit temporary, solution offered after the school re-opens in a fortnight, but an unnamed CEC official suggests there won't be any changes this side of the local plan being finalised. Who is right?
Looking at the number of respondents to the previous posting on this website, shows it is the issue of biggest concern at the moment to site users. Whilst that is just one sample I have also asked Wilmslow Town Council what influence they can bring to bear on CEC ? I was told this issue is the source of their largest correspondence with residents, and they are actively following the case up.
It beats me how the parking can not be considered obstruction... the bus companies and emergency services including the Police themselves, must have been delayed along the road in recent months.
Alan Butler is right, why would you pay a charge and walk further into town from the school, if you were the type of person who is happy to leave your car to obstruct a main road for others, never mind risk damage to it? Can't see the situation improving significantly for a while yet!

New week...same problem. There is no change to the parking problem as far as I saw this morning, so the stop-gap measure has had no impact on the number of cars blocking the free flow of traffic.

I did however see another near miss with two cars coming close to a head-on collision. Families with children in pushchairs and elderly pedestrians are also struggling to walk along narrow pavements near the medical centre and dental practices.

Selfish people are not going to alter their behaviour with a gentle request to make the roads safer and park at the High School. Some proper enforcement, with financial penalties, is the only way to change these attitudes.

Laurie Kennard
I agree - this is a near permanent obstruction.
The Police have a complete and absolute duty to act under current law. It does not need yellow lines for the definition of an obstruction to be met.
Is it that they do not care or have they been instructed to ignore the matter?
Advising, informally, those parking to go elsewhere is obviously not working.
They are going to have to do the paperwork and start to prosecute.

At least this situation on Alderley Road has brought the issue of on street parking to all residents of Wilmslow and brought action from local Conservative Councillors, the same people who have badly let down residents on Leeside/Glenside, Buckingham Road, Linfield North etc. who have been living with this nonsense for long enough. It was Residents is Wilmslow (RoW) that exposed the fact the survey of parking heralded by Conservatives more than 2 years ago in fact did not exist. Since then continuing RoW pressure and the Alderley Road nonsense has brought about a somewhat limited temporary solution.

Of course the problem is as it has always been with Cheshire East and the Conservative majority: A total obsession with wealth creation without the necessary infrastructure being in place prior to development. This is what has to change. The 'suck it and see' attitude to infrastructure favoured by CEC Planning Officers, supported by their Conservative Councillor friends has to be addressed and urgently. The opportunity comes next May when the whole of the population of Cheshire East needs to vote for Independent councillors. Alderley Edge did this last time round to very great effect.

On the 9th August Residents of Wilmslow again wrote to the Leader of the Council, Cllr Rachel Bailey, expressing our grave concern with the continued vehicle obstruction along the Alderley Road entry point to the town centre, perceived lack of indifference by the Council and requesting immediate action be taken to stop this obstruction. We suggested either a "temporary" or "emergency" order be initiated to stop all parking, thus giving the Council time to instigate a permanent "No Parking" zone. We also made a number of suggestions to resolve the continued overrunning of the town's residential roads. To date we have not received a response to our last letter. See letter below -

LETTER FROM RESIDENTS OF WILMSLOW TO CLLR RACHEL BAILEY,
Councillor Rachel Bailey,
Leader, Cheshire East Council,
9th August 2018.
Dear Rachel,

Thank you for your reply to RoW’s email of the 3rd August expressing our grave concerns with the obstructive car parking along Alderley Road from the Kings Arms roundabout to adjacent to the first right turn into Sainsbury's car park & opposite the Coach & Four. In fact the right turn section into Sainsbury's is now the only way to go forward to the centre of town as the inside lane is now blocked all day long by parked cars, with a consequential hold up of through traffic. This is presenting a major issue as this causes a long tail back behind the right turning vehicles. Also we now have a constant flow of one-way traffic as wide vehicles are unable to pass without taking up the opposite carriageway.

We suggested in our last email that CEC institute a "temporary" or "emergency" interim measure/order, to prohibit parking on this stretch of a very busy and congested major road into and out of Wilmslow centre until such a time as a full restrictive order is in place.

We would be grateful if you would discuss this serious issue with the police as soon as possible to ensure a "temporary" or "emergency" order is instigated within days.

Regarding another issue, the transport survey you refer to was supposedly being undertaken some 20 plus months ago under the auspices of Cllr. David Brown. When we asked you and Kath O’Dwyer, in your office, how the survey was progressing, you both said you were not aware of any Wilmslow survey. Later we were told Cllr Stockton was overseeing a survey for Wilmslow. The statement attached to your email DOES NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT OR ADDRESS THE DAILY GRAVE SITUATION ON ALDERLEY ROAD.

From your response it appears that no such survey is yet underway therefore would you kindly confirm the following:-

• Is a Wilmslow survey being undertaken?
• If so, when will the survey start?
• When will it be completed?
• Will residents and RoW be consulted?

We look forward to your prompt reply to our very grave concern with the daily obstruction on Alderley Road.

Yours sincerely,
Residents of Wilmslow
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The solution, if that is what we dare call it, is to persuade car parkers to relocate to the high school car park for a £1 a day. That's fine, it is very cheap parking. But the "solution" will cease, I suspect, at the start of the new school term, in a fortnight. Therefore this is NOT a SOLUTION.
Why cannot CEC instigate a "temporary" no waiting enforcement? As the Council happily closes the Alderley Rd service road once a month for the Artisan Market, why will it not do the same on the opposite side of Alderley Road for the remainder of each month? After all, the way the cars are daily parked can be deemed a hazard & danger to other road users, motorists, cyclists, pedestrians.
A CEC jobs worth has uttered meaningless banalities, such as "council developed a series of profiles", "examining evidence", "key issues", "opportunities", "a parking study ...will be undertaken" "analysing information..from consultation", "study..completed this year", "town strategy ...developed thereafter", "we are not implementing further parking restrictions, unless...overwhelming evidence-led requirement".
This in effect means the Leadership and controlling party are just not interested in solving the daily "overwhelming evidence-led" congestion, preferring to leave it all to apparatchiks who do not have to endue the daily "evidence-led" congestion.
Let us be clear, that spokesperson, acting on behalf of the leadership, and probably on behalf of Wilmslow's Conservative CE councillors, is saying nothing will be done, no solutions by CE for another 12 to 24 months, if then.
RoW has been "promised" a number of previous Wilmslow wide parking surveys, to date these have not really materialised with the Leadership stating it had no knowledge of at least two of these. In effect we were simply shrugged off by councillors who were mot concerned or interested in the car mayhem allowed to fester.
Wilmslow needs action now not at some futuristic stage. Where there is a will there will be a way!
The time is fast approaching, May 2019, when Wilmslow's voters will be able to express their disgust with the town's current Conservative representation at Cheshire East. Are you prepared to be fobbed off time after time by a uncaring, controlling band of councillors?Residents of Wilmslow will be presenting a fully independent alternative choice for your valuable vote by fielding RoW candidates - People before Party!

A few cones would provide a temporary solution before the neeeded yellow lines are painted. But CEC has allowed too many office developments with no parking provisions. The office owners (a well known and rich company for most of the properties) should be made to fund parking and transport for the workers All roads on Wilmslow have become a car park for workers who make little contribution to Wilmslow.

Terry Roeves, it's a consequence of the now-dated vision of Wilmslow as a Knightsbridge-of-the-North, a desirable place to live and work, where retail unit rents were well above our competing local towns, and maybe justified, to some very small extent, higher car-parking costs.

If I'm not mistaken, there are 9 empty, prime retail spaces from Parkway to Sainsbury's.

There needs to be new thinking: 'bus services have been deliberately cut and scaled back, car-parking charges go ever upwards, as do rents and the ever-growing threat from on-line shopping have all contributed to today's state of affairs.

Roger Bagguley, it's a mirage of wealth creation but the residents - the local tax-payers - have no perceivable benefit.

Oh, apart from the suggestion that all this income helps keep council taxes down.

Er...

Idiot councillors, dozy police and wimpy residents who will do nothing to vote OUT the existing councillors at the next elections - because they are all 'wishy-washy ,haven't a clue' officials with soft ideas. The police are a dozy lot because they think that parking such that a two lane road is reduced to a single lane road is NOT obstruction and so nothing can be done.
It is either OK to park on a main road and disrupt the traffic flow OR IT ISN'T. It is OK to park half on the pavment and half on the road OR IT ISN'T. As far as I see it, parking half on the pavement is an admission that the road is not wide enough and so I shouldn't really be parking in this manner. Anyone will park in this manner if they can get away with it and who let's them 'get away with it'? Our council that we have elected to represent us.
It isn't just parking that is a problem - I have spoken before on allowing parking in cycle lanes that have a broken line and not a solid line. Another example of police/council looking like fools in the eyes of the people they represent.
This latest idea is crackers. Motorists will still park there and save £1 per day.
Too many of these motorists probably come from out of town, so why should we residents tolerate their actions?

Car parking or the lack of parking in Wilmslow is just one aspect of a town centre with no 'committed development plan' up to 2030. The CE Local Plan Strategy 2017 provided no specific plan for the centre and only provided 'strategic housing development sites' without any significant parallel infrastructure schemes. The Neighbourhood Plan provides a vision for Wilmslow but I am not hopeful that this will influence CEC to allocate funds to achieve this vision or any other. Wilmslow is a poor relation at the CE cabinet table evidenced by the way in which Wilmslow Town Council decisions have been consistently steamrollered by CE Council. The only way forward is to replace this Conservative Cabinet and Council with an alliance of independent groups with the interest of local residents at their heart. An independent council does not mean that a utopia will result but will jolt the establishment to understand that local needs and opinion must dictate the plans and actions of the incumbent council. This may go some way to preventing local development based on who you know and the result of discussions behind closed doors between those with vested interests. Meanwhile beat the drum and object to each and every unjust action or inaction by this dinosaur of a council. Time for a change.

I've always been in favour of Park & Ride parking as a solution to these situations. I always use P&R, when available, when visiting Cities and towns elsewhere.
Please note nobody has expressed concerns about The Rex Cinema afternoon matinees parking. I hope this doesn't scupper the project.