MercuryMottram St. Andrew Issue 177 Feb / Mar 2018 The Parish Magazine of Mottram St. Andrew Produced jointly by the Village Hall Committee and the Parish Council Get ready for the cold snap folks, rather Here comes the snow this morning. preferring it to all the rain though! Had a glorious walk with my dog Riley. Nothing quiet beats a fresh frosty Time for all you fun seekers to get the morning walk to put a little glow in your sledges out and build some snowmen. cheeks. Why not send me some pics for me to 2018 sure has started at a fast and include in next months Mercury. Let’s furious pace for me but not complaining. see how creative you can all be, shall Looking forward to whatever exciting we. Enjoy the snow but wrap up warm. projects that come my way this year. You can keep up to date with up & coming event via our village website so My head is already dreaming of exotic please take a look & check out what is holidays and the prospect of maybe going on . escaping somewhere hot this year and taking some time out. It will be Easter We are looking for a new editor of the before we know it and I am right in Mercury if any one fancies a challenge. thinking May warmed up nicely last year! My life has just got far too busy and I am bracing myself for this cold snap constantly trying to squeeze too much and possibly snow in April into too few hours of the day. Thank you to all that continue to write You can also keep up to date with up & articles for the Mercury and to those who coming event via our village website so have made a big effort in adding some please take a look & check it out stimulating content to our community www.mottramstandrew.com read this month . Gillian Hillary shared an extract from the past legend Beth Gardom’s diary giving us an insight into village life in 1986, I hope that you enjoy reading it. We have a new article from Ian wright which he has kindly offered to continue with in future issues “The untidy gardener” kindly sharing his horticultural knowledge and again we have another poem for poets corner. All this makes our magazine a little more interesting so if anyone would like to contribute by writing an article please do feel free to email me at [email protected] x Front cover image First signs of life - Photo taken by Ian Wright. 3 arish Council Chairman’s Report P By Bill Pilkington I hope that all of you have had a goodWe raised our objections over the Christmas and are looking forward to proposed cuts to highway maintenance better weather. in the Cheshire East pre budget consultation which would see a reduction in gully emptying, gritting of During the last few months your Parish roads in the winter etc. to save £1.5 Council has been responding to various million spread over three years. consultations issued by Cheshire East as well as commenting on numerous In examining the Cheshire East pre planning applications. budget consultation document we noted that there is a proposed 4.99% increase We objected to the proposed cuts to in Council Tax for the financial year community transport, the proposed cuts 2018/19 and that further increases will to school transport and made comments occur in 2019/20 and 2020/21. The on Cheshire East’s pre budget main reason for the increase is to consultation. support those residents who are We also raised our concerns over the receiving care and to provide additional proposed cuts to community transport at funding in support of adult social care. the annual general meeting of the Cheshire East state that they will always Cheshire Association of Local Councils prioritise services for vulnerable people and they have supported our concerns despite the financial challenges. and have raised them with Rachel Bailey Cheshire East’s key priorities are stated at Cheshire East. as being welfare, education, health and employment. I hope that those of you with school age Cheshire East have also included £1.5 children responded to the proposed cuts million in their budget to support to school transport as I recommended investment in the Crewe railway station that you did. A decision is still awaited. area to take advantage of the perceived benefits that HS2 will bring to Cheshire Those of you who use public transport East. It is proposed that HS2 will use the will have noticed that the 130 bus existing railway station at Crewe which service provided by Arriva from will make it better as a rail interchange Macclesfield to Manchester has already whereas the proposed Manchester been reduced as part of the budget cuts Airport station will be located adjacent to from a half hourly service to hourly. junction 6 on the M56 and therefore not However D&G bus will be providing an at the existing railway station. We are hourly service along the same route of also aware that the Government has the 130 service between Macclesfield requested HS2 to examine operating an and Handforth Dean shopping centre hourly HS2 service from Macclesfield which could be beneficial and therefore calling at Stoke and Stafford. No continue to provide a half hourly service costings or time savings have been between Macclesfield and Wilmslow. provided. The proposal is for one HS2 4 Community - News train that is 200 metres long to replace Council meeting or at the Annual Village the existing longer Pendolino trains. Meeting on Monday 23rd April in the Currently there is one Pendolino from Village Hall commencing at 7 pm. All Macclesfiled calling at Stoke, an extra residents are encouraged to attend as one form Stoke and one form Stafford this meeting gives you the residents the every hour. Therefore if implemented opportunity to raise any concerns. there could be some overcrowding on the proposed HS2 service from Macclesfield. Some of you may have noticed that BT Open Reach have been working on There are also proposals to close three Wilmslow Road installing ducts for fibre local libraries at Alderley Edge, Prestbury broadband so hopefully things are and Disley to achieve £150,000 saving looking up for those who unable to take over the next three years. Our mobile advantage of the broadband facility library seems to have escaped the cuts provided by Vispa. but if we want it retained we need to increase the numbers using it. The 120 page pre budget document is I look forward to seeing many of you at available on the Cheshire East web site future Parish Council meetings and the if you want more information. Annual Village meeting. We have been made aware that Cheshire East has £5.4 million funding available to boost rural businesses that can be applied for by local businesses by contacting [email protected] or by telephone 0300 123 5001. The grant can also be used for sourcing faster broadband connectivity through a £600,000 voucher scheme worth up to £4,000 per property. We are also aware that Manchester Airport has a Community Trust Fund that can award grants to a maximum of £3,000. To be successful a group must comply with various conditions. Your Parish Council has been considering applying for a grant if a suitable project can be found. The Parish Council would be interested to hear of any ideas that can be examined at a future Parish 5 WWW.MDAVENPORTBUILDERS.CO.UK Quality builder with over 30 years experience Services • House building M.Davenport Builders Ltd began as a small joinery firm in • Extensions 1977, founded by Mark Davenport. • Large-scale alterations • Conservatories It is now one of the most respected independent building • Spas and Swimming pools firms in the Stockport and Cheshire areas. • Re-roofing With over 20 full-time experienced employees and a fleet of • Driveways company owned vehicles, all clients can be assured of • Outhouses quality workmanship and the utmost professionalism • Garages throughout the duration of their job. All sites are overseen • Porches daily by Mark and his business partner Jon, who are on call • Landscaping whenever a client needs them. M.Davenport Builders Ltd has been a member of the National House-Building Council (NHBC) for over 20 years. The NHBC is the leading standards setter for UK house- building, which established an approved housebuilder register - of which we are proud to be a member. For any enquiries, please get in touch with Mark 0161 439 4051 [email protected] Please support our advertisers www.mdavenportbuilders.co.uk Brook House, 2-4 Northenden Rd, Gatley, Cheadle SK8 4DN Community - News ethodist Church M By Ian Wright A week or so later as the lead up to Christmas continued, members of the Macclesfield Salvation Army Band spent an enjoyable evening with us as we shared carols, thoughts and prayers with their entertaining humour as evident as always. During the year we have continued to fill and re-fill the box of foodstuffs for their food distribution initiative and a special collection of food items, generously added to by members Our Christmas services which took us of the WI enabled us to send a through to the end of 2017 began early substantial quantity to help boost their with a Christmas Tree Festival at the end supply ready for their increased of November. As this was a ‘first’ for the seasonal demand. Following on we are chapel it was difficult to say whether this pleased to report all our Christmas was a good plan or not.