JANUARY 2020 UPDATE FROM YOUR WARD COUNCILLOR

JANUARY 2020 UPDATE FROM YOUR WARD COUNCILLOR

DEVELOPMENT/APPROVED PLANNING:
We currently have two developments underway on Old Hall Street:
18/01848/FUL – The Red Lion Public House
19/01974/S73 – The Cedars Retirements Home.

A further development 18/02090/FUL – The Sycamores, on Old Hall Street, has been recently approved by Cheshire West and Chester Planning Committee despite objections from local residents.

I did ask the Committee to consider the timing of the construction work if the application was to be approved. However, delayed starts are not possible.

Planning application 18/04209/FUL – Malpas Garage, Old Hall Street – New Co-op Store.
Following agreement on the removal of the fuel tanks and any potential contamination on the site this application has now been approved.

There were some objections from near neighbours, but with the site looking very shabby for quite some time, this development will be beneficial to the revitalisation of Malpas.

All these developments together are having a severe detrimental effect on the community with significant daily traffic congestion and contractors vehicles blocking pavements and drive-ways. They are also resulting in the deterioration of the road surfaces.

The lack of consideration with regards to the number of concurrent developments in one area is causing chaos.
There is a complete lack of integrated construction management planning.

The Planning Authority did not think about where the contractor vehicles were going to park or the volume of vehicles involved with each development.

This situation has been added to further by the Planning Inspector who approved the Cedars development allowing the construction vehicles for that development to park on the Highway and public car parks.

Other current developments within the village are:
18/04056/FUL – Bovis site off Chester Road
18/04462/FUL – Mount View opposite the Sports Club.
19/00318/FUL – One dwelling behind the Old Police Station on Chester Road.
17/01884/FUL – Fairhurst, Chester Road

Future developments that have been approved.
17/04664/out – Community Health Hub, Land off Chester Road.

HOUSING:
In 2009 Cheshire West and Chester Borough Council undertook a sustainability assessment of Malpas and subsequently determined that Malpas could sustain 200 new dwellings between 2010 – 2030

To date, planning applications have approved 388 new dwellings, with a potential for a further 37 dwellings in live planning applications waiting for a decision.
Malpas is now on the edge of over development.

Strat 8 and Strat 9 of Cheshire West and Chester Council's Local Plan part one clearly state, "development should be appropriate in scale and design to conserve each settlements character and settings."

"Development should not exceed the capacity of existing services and infrastructure unless the required improvements can be made."

I would recommend that we need a new sustainability assessment. The results of which can inform the revised version of the Malpas Neighbourhood Plan.

EDUCATION:
Malpas Alport Primary School has undergone extensive work to accommodate the influx of young children from the new housing developments.

The school has been expanded by 1/3 of its previous capacity, increasing the number of places from 210 to 315.
The school currently has approximately 25% of its pupils from outside of the Cheshire West Borough.
The school's planning agents predict that eventually the added 105 places will mean another 64 extra cars attending school each day.

The school front entrance has recently benefited from a 20 mph speed restriction, but it does not have any dedicated playing fields on site and is currently using the Recreation Ground on Tilston Road for its sports activities.

Tilston Road has for many years, been a dangerous road for school children. The main disabled access into the Alport School is off this road, and it is also the only route for the children to access the Recreation Ground.

For some time parents have been asking for a crossing, but traffic speed is high and the road has a blind bend in it. For this reason it is unlikely that Cheshire West and Chester highways will support a zebra crossing.
I have therefore asked for a pavement "build out" which will help to slow traffic and increase visibility. This request has also been added to the Parish Council's Traffic Master Plan.

It is expected that the issue will be addressed as a priority when the Traffic Plan has been accepted by Cheshire West and Chester Highways.

Bishop Heber High School was judged outstanding by Ofsted in 2011. The school is oversubscribed and operates beyond its Planned Admissions Number (PAN). It is nearing its full capacity with over 25% of the students attending from outside Cheshire West Borough.

The school does not have a 20 mph speed restriction outside of it. I plan to meet with the school Headmaster and Cheshire West highways department to understand the difficulties they are facing; this with a view to getting the 20 mph speed restrictions installed.

I am still receiving concerns over parking outside the school. I am aware that considerable effort has been made to date to seek extra parking, but to no avail.

I do not know of any future plans to help with this specific problem.
However, the area outside the school is just one small aspect of our Malpas parking problems, so I will be asking the Parish Council to ensure they consider it as part of their Village Traffic Master Plan.

The school have stated that they will continue looking for solutions to support their students and the community and also contribute to future initiatives if they can.

HEALTH:
The Malpas Ward contains approximately 4,000 residents.

Malpas dental surgery offers a great service, but it has no dedicated parking facility and is with in a very small building. It is also at its full capacity with a very long patient waiting list.

Laurel Bank surgery is at full capacity having approximately 7,000 patients registered with it. It sits on the edge of Malpas village on a small site with an inadequate car parking capacity.
It deals with a large ageing population which has greater care needs added to that of the new influx of residents.

Work continues on the initiative to provide a new Community Health Hub within the village. No further details available at this time.

Malpas has a variety of over 70 organisations and clubs all with a dedicated volunteers helping to reduce isolation and keep residents active.

Details can be found on the Malpas Cheshire Online web site at https://www.malpascheshire.org/directories/community.html

CAR PARKING:
Work continues on the quest to find more car parking space. No further detail available at present.

OTHER ISSUES :
Pavements:
There are a number of pavements in the village that are deteriorating. I will be reporting these to Cheshire west and Chester Streetscene for attention.

Gully Cleaning
I have requested that Cheshire West and Chester Highways:
Remove all debris after a gully has been cleaned to avoid it being washed back into the grids.
Deep cleaning of underground drains to help prevent flooding.

The following list indicates the issues I have reported over the last 6 months.
Street cleaning 12
Planning. 2
Highways. 36
(All dealt with in the target timescales. Escalations dealt with in 24 hours.)

Waste Bins. 4
(This has resulted in an extra day being added to the collection schedule.)

Lighting. 1
Casework. 10
Other services. 4

During the reporting period, I have "called in" 3 planning applications for a planning committee decision.

We have also seen completion of the strengthening work on Bradley Bridge and Hampton Bridge road re-surfacing.

All highways and street problems can be reported directly to Cheshire West and Chester Council at https://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/Home.aspx

Anyone wanting to escalate a case or has any other problem they would like to discuss, then they can contact me at rachel.williams@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk

Rachel Williams
Malpas Ward Councillor
January 2020