Next meeting to be arranged!
A further meeting will take place on [to be arranged],
7.30pm, at the Civic Hall.
Progress meeting held
A progress meeting for the community affected by the Co-op shop
was held on Thursday 20th January. Just 30 members
of the public turned out this time (60 last time). Four CEC councillors
were present plus a couple from Bollington Town Council.
A slide show presentation was prepared for the meeting by the
Cease Co-op Chaos group but the chairman chose not to allow it.
It is available
here if you wish to see it
.
Please note that it will only display correctly when using Microsoft
Internet Explorer.
A number
of aspects were on the agenda and these notes made during the
discusion (not exhaustive) ...
- Sunday Trading - the shop is clearly within the law in trading
for more than six hours. The trading spce is just over 1,700sqft,
limitations only apply for those over 3,000sqft.
- The cash dispenser is inside the store and a very popular service.
It is presently doing 8,000 transactions a week. This is not 8,000
users - each use, even if just to draw cash, will involve several
transactions between the terminal and the bank's computer. None
the less this is clearly popular. The argument is that this service
atracts al lot of visitors to the shop for no other reason, visitors
who would not come to the shop if there was no cash machine. There
was discusion regarding an alternative location for a cash machine
in Bollington. The reality is that there is nowhere that will satify
all our requirements.
- Delivery times - there are an astonishing number of deliveries
to the shop. Five or six days a week there will be two different
bread suppliers, a Co-op fresh goods delivery, and a Co-op dry
goods delivery. There are also a few additional deliveries during
the week. Deliveries are restricted to 9.30am - 3.00pm and 4.30pm
- 10.00pm. These times are designed to avoid peak hours particularly
school coming and going. There are continuing problems regarding
where the truck should park, where they turn, what happens when
two arrive at the same time.
- Garish Landscape of the shop - the shop is extremely bright at
night and shines its lights across Wellington Road and into the
house opposite. It was likened to living on Blackpool prom! This
is undoubtedly unpleasant for the householders. The Co-op say they
will add some features to the front wall to break up this glaring
light.
- Anti-Social Behaviour - Lindsey Whitehead, PCSO, reported that
on several visits she had not found any problems. Householders,
who are continuing to complain about this problem, were asked to
call the police on 0845 458 0000 to get a more immediate
response.
- Request for 20mph advisory speed limit - there is no CEC policy
to implement 20mph zones. There are legal reason why a limit cannot
be applied to Wellington Road.
- Parking proposals - David Naylor, Town Clerk, gave a very well
illustrated presentation on the options for changing the yellow
lines and parking positions around the shop. They all had their
own serious problems and it was agreed that none were worth further
consideration. One additional No Loading sign is to be requested.
- One item that so often causes confusion is responsibilities for
parking control and obstruction. Parking Wardens are responsible
for yellow line offences. They visit Bollington for half a day
each week. since October (3 months) they have patrolled at 16 locations
including the Co-op area, issued 23 penalty notices only two of
which were at the Co-op. It was noted that this was an inadequate
response. The police are responsible for obstruction incidents.
Obstruction is not a fixed penalty offence and has to be taken
to the Magistrates court. A case can only succeed if a specific
person is actually obstructed and that person will have to provide
evidence. It's not easy.
It was agreed that there should be a further meeting in a few
weeks time. It will be announced on this page once arranged.
The
history
There has been a Co-operative store on the corner of Wellington
Road and Albert Road since at least 1900, in fact it is probably
the only shop in Bollington that has survived over 100 years in
the same ownership and is still open! It has a long history.
The original store was a beautiful late 19th century building
with a canopy around the street sides, like those in Buxton. Alas
this building was torn down in the 1960s to provide a 'modern'
self-service store. In 2007 the company decided to expand the store
and remodel it in the modern style. This extension has been built
in the summer of 2010.
The problem
Ever since the new store opened it has been mayhem.
Vehicles are the problem, cars from the customers and trucks
delivering for the Co-op added to the chaotic traffic problems
that already exist in that area. Albert Road has long been a
serious traffic problem and the worst part of it is the junction
with Wellington Road, in front of the Co-op and the entry to
Riverside Close. Trucks find it difficult to turn into and out
of Albert Road. They are often obstructed by vehicles parked,
often illegally, around the Co-op. There is a limited number
of parking spaces (7) on one side of the shop and this is a reduction
of three from those available prior to the expansion of the shop.
The site is surrounded by double yellow no parking lines.
See
the new page on Parking Enforcement.
The Revolt
The local residents have set
up a campaign group and Bollington Town Council supported them
in organising a public meeting with a wide range of local councillors
and Cheshire East officers present. These included four CEC
councillors, two Police officers, the CEC Highways manager. This
was held on the evening of 20th October 2010 in the Civic Hall
and about 60 residents attended. The meeting was chaired by Cllr
Roland Domleo, Deputy Leader of Cheshire East Council. The other
three councillors were Cllr Harold Davenport, Cllr Matthew Davies,
and Cllr Diana Thompson, all ward councillors for Bollington
& Disley. (To contact any of these see
the Councillors page.)
An introductory presentation by the residents highlighted their
concerns ...
- How did the shop extension get planning permission?
- The serious problems, including serious safety concerns,
being caused
- What solutions are there to these problems?
The basic problem is that there are too many vehicles trying
to park around the shop, especially at peak times when the schools
in Albert Road are starting and finishing, and also when there
are delivery trucks trying to park beside the shop to unload.
These problems provide serious risk for pedestrians, particularly
if they have to walk behind vehicles parked outside the shop.
These vehicles most usually park nose in to the shop and then
reverse out across the pavement and into Albert Road. This is
seen as a serious risk for drivers and especially pedestrians.
At school in and out times many young children have to walk past
the shop.
Many difficulties are caused by large HGV trucks turning into
or out of Albert Road. This is a difficult turn at the best of
times because or the sharpness of angle and the lack of turning
space for semi-trailers. The difficulty is increased for those
accessing Albert Road because the pedestrian refuge in Wellington
Road prevents the trucks from taking a wider sweep at the turn.
This problem may be alleviated by the imminent removal of the
refuge and its replacement by a pedestrian crossing. The difficulties
for trucks are increased when a Co-op HGV is parked in the area,
usually along the Albert Road side of the shop.
The problem of inappropriately parked cars extends along Wellington
Road, Albert Road and Riverbank Close with many residents claiming
that they had experienced difficulty getting into or out of their
own drives.
The opening hours of the shop were questioned - should this
now be regarded as a large shop and limited to six hours of opening
on a Sunday? Subsequent to the meeting measurement of the building
and review of the legal specification of a large shop seems to
show that this is a small shop entitled to open for longer hours.
Residents also claim that deliveries are being made on Sundays
despite that being prohibited by condition in the planning approval.
Concerns were expressed about the increase in litter in the
area since the shop was extended. There was also an allegation
that groups of youths were loitering in close proximity to the
shop and drinking alcohol. Some customers had reported that they
had been approached by youths with requests to buy alcoholic
drink for them. The shop claim that they require those that look
as though they are under 25 years of age to identify themselves
and prove that they are over 18 before selling them alcohol.
There was discussion regarding the possibility of the grass
strip on the right of Riverbank Close, owed by CEC, being used
as a parking area for delivery trucks. Access and egress was
thought to be very difficult for this location but it will be
looked at.
Action
All the problems and ideas put forward in the presentation and
subsequent discussion were noted and various parties will take
action ...
- CEC will arrange for the parking warden to visit at least
one day per week and issue tickets to those in breach of parking
regulations.
- CEC Highways will review the parking restrictions and hasten
the installation of the planned pedestrian crossing over Wellington
Road.
- Co-op management will firmly establish the need to avoid sending
delivery trucks during the schools in and out times.
- BTC/CEC will take action to have the overhanging hedges in
the area cut back to maximise footpath clearance.
- Police/PCSO will pay more attention to youth drinking in the
area.
Further measures will be considered by all parties and brought to
another public meeting yet to be announced (subsequently held on
20 January 2011, see above).
Documents available
Minutes of the meeting
Attendance list
