Figures released today show that crime continues to fall across Cheshire

 

Residents in Cheshire can be reassured by crime statistics released today that Cheshire continues to be a safe area in which to live and work and visit.

All recorded crime in Cheshire has fallen by six percent for the period April 2011 to March 2012, two percent more than the reductions achieved nationally.

Cheshire Constabulary has worked closely with partner agencies within the wider criminal justice system to make it harder for criminals to commit crime.We have worked with those who are identified as prolific offenders to deter them from leading criminal lifestyles, and our neighbourhood officers are dedicated in addressing crime and disorder issues that really concern local communities.

Deputy Chief Constable Helen King said "We continue to build upon our successes in reducing crime over recent years, particularly encouraging is that there are almost 4,000 fewer victims of crime in our county. In particular we have seen a six percent reduction in the number of homeowners becoming victims of burglary, and over 1,300 fewer victims of violent crime.

Drug related crime in the community continues to be an issue raised by local residents, and over the course of the last 12 months we have carried out a number of targeted operations to dismantle drug activity in our area. This has increased the number of arrests we made for drug possession, supply and production and is evidenced in the report by a slight increase in the number of drug offences reported to us."

"Particularly encouraging is that victims of rape and serious sexual offences have come forward and reported the matter to us, resulting in more perpetrators of sex crimes being brought to justice. This has resulted in an increase in the number of sexual offences recorded by 5%.

"We are keen to reiterate that crime doesn′t pay.We have seized more than £1 million pounds in cash seizures and forfeitures from criminals in Cheshire between April last year and March this year and reduced fraud offences by 18% on last years figures.

"Todays′ report provides a good foundation for us to build on and we have continued to see reductions in crime over the past few months. We need to continue to strengthen the working relationships we have with other agencies and to seek new and innovative ways of working over the coming months that will continue to drive down the number of individuals who become victims of crime in a climate of reducing budgets."

We are committed to achieving justice outcomes that meets the needs of victims, the community and are more likely to reduce future offending for those who commit crime. As a consequence our officers regularly utilise Restorative Justice as a means of addressing low level offending. The use of this outcome is not recognised in national figures data, but is the right outcome in many cases.

We are confident that the current detection data is a fair representation of our staff using appropriate discretion in individual cases and pursuing outcomes that have a likelihood of reducing future offending.

Where serious crimes are under investigation we will explore every investigative opportunity (on occasions over a number of years) to ensure that offenders are brought to justice through the Courts."

Police appeal for public to help find missing man

Police are appealing for help from the public in tracing a 48-year-old man reported missing.
Mark Winn went missing from Lime Walk Rehabilitation Unit in Victoria Road, Macclesfield at 11.30am on Wednesday 11 July 2012.
This behaviour is out of character for Mark and police are becoming increasingly concerned for his welfare.
Mark is described as around 5′ 4" inches tall, of slim build, with short wiry black and grey hair. He is possibly wearing glasses. He was last seen wearing a black jacket, blue jogging bottoms and a blue t shirt.
It is believed he could be in the Merseyside or Greater Manchester area.
Inspector Paul Broadhurst said: "We are concerned for Mark′s welfare and are keen to hear from anyone who may have seen Mark or has any information as to his whereabouts. Extensive enquiries are ongoing to trace him and anyone who can assist with our enquiries is urged to contact Cheshire Police immediately on 101 quoting incident number 340 of 11 July."

Fundraising Bike Ride

On Sunday 15th July Howard Barker and his son Ben Barker (aged 15) completed cycling the 190 mile long Trans Pennine Trail - http://www.transpenninetrail.org.uk/ - from Liverpool to Hornsea. They completed the route in four days and started on the Thursday at the Liver Building on Liverpool's waterfront before heading across England to Hornsea on the east coast.

Howard and Ben (who recently completed his GCSE's at Malbank School) are raising money to replace lead stolen earlier this year from the roof of St Mary's Church, Church Lane, Wistaston. A significant amount of lead was stolen and after claiming the insurance the cost of the repairs still amounts to approximately £15,000. To ensure the church is weatherproof for weddings, baptisms, funerals and church services urgent and expensive work is required. If you would like to make a donation, please send cheques payable to "St Mary's Church, Wistaston" to St Mary's Church, Church Lane, Wistaston, Crewe CW2 8HA.

Howard said, "It was a real adventure, good fun but challenging. Ben's music playing loudly as we cycled surprised the other people on the trail". Ben said, "It was an amazing experience that I will never forget, but it was extremely hard because we have never done anything like that before".

They found the route very hard work as neither had done anything like it before. In places the paths were impassable due to flooding with some paths more like streams. It rained particularly heavily as they went over the top of the Trail's highest point at Woodhead Pass. They also had mechanical problems such as brakes not working properly and a slow puncture. They had a great adventure but don't intend to go near a bicycle for some time!

Reporter Jonathan White, Crewe

Cheshire East Olympic farewell (Tues 17/7/12)

Athletes and officials from the Oceania countries of Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands attended an Olympic farewell from Cheshire East this morning (Tues 17/7/12) at Blue Bell BMW on Weston Road in Crewe. The Oceania athletes have been training in Cheshire East ahead of the London 2012 Summer Olympics. Dennis Dunn (Dean of MMU Cheshire), Councillor George Walton (Mayor of Cheshire East) and Phil Cook (who led the Pre-Games Training Camps at MMU Cheshire) all gave speeches to wish the athletes every success at the Olympics. Each athlete from Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands was presented with a commemorative shield. Reynolds Alatoa (Vanuatu team manager) then gave a moving speech to give his gratitude for the fantastic support his country has received. Phil Cook was given a thank you gift by Anolyn Lulu from Vanuatu who is competing in table tennis at the Olympics and is also Vanuatu’s flag bearer at the Games. Also present were 200m breaststroke swimmer Charlotte Bradbury, aged 17, from Nantwich who carried the Olympic Torch when it passed through Crewe in May; along with a reporter and cameraman from BBC North West Tonight. The athletes and officials then posed for photographs with the visiting dignitaries before signing a BMW good luck board within the showroom of Blue Bell BMW.
 
More photos here

Reporter Jonathan White

Leader pledges support despite cancellation of major show

 

Cheshire East Council leader Michael Jones has pledged continued support to organisers of the Nantwich & South Cheshire Show despite the disappointing cancellation of this year’s event.

The much-loved one-day event was scheduled for Wednesday, July 25 when it was expected to once again attract well in excess of 30,000 people but a rain-sodden surface at Dorfold Park means the show can no longer go on.

Organisers the Nantwich Agricultural Society were left with no option but to cancel the event as the ground conditions are unsuitable.

The International Cheese Awards, however, will go ahead as planned with a trade day on Tuesday, July 24 and a public opening on Wednesday, July 25 where there will be a reduced entry fee of £5 per person and free entry to children aged 16 and under.

Celebrities Gino D’Acampo, James Martin and Jean-Christophe Novelli and ex-Atomic Kitten member Liz McClarnon will all still be present during the public opening.

Councillor Jones said: “Cheshire East Council very much supports the Nantwich & South Cheshire Show, which is without doubt one of the key dates in the calendar every year in this part of the country.

“Unfortunately, it has fallen victim to the poor weather conditions we have been experiencing and there is sadly nothing the organisers can do about that. They have worked very hard again to bring us a great one-day show so I am very disappointed for them.

“However, I do hope the weather does not put people off visiting the cheese show, which is housed in a giant marquee where there are thousands of fantastic exhibits on display from numerous countries.

“This council will continue to support the Nantwich Agricultural Society and we look forward to a much better year next year when I’m sure it will be back better than ever.”

Warning over rogue energy provider callers

 

Cheshire East Council is warning residents to beware of rogue telephone callers who are posing as energy providers.

These callers tell residents they have accrued a large amount of credit on their accounts and require bank card details in order to make a refund.

Residents need to be aware there is NO credit on these accounts and it is likely the rogue callers will attempt to use the bank card details to commit fraud.

Energy companies would never contact customers in this way and residents are warned to be extremely cautious when giving out any financial or personal details.

If residents have any concerns relating to this or similar issues they should call the Citizens’ Advice consumer service on 08454 040506.

Local Bobby called to the Olympics

In the days running up to the Olympics, officers from across Cheshire Constabulary will be preparing for 26 July, where they are being deployed to work within London and at the Olympics. Ian Cuthbertson, a local officer who has been employed with Cheshire Police since 1989 works on the rural neighbourhood team at Frodsham. Ian has worked in a variety of roles including the opportunity to work on CID, with the intelligence unit and as a Press Officer.

Asked about his expectations on being asked to work in the Olympic Village, Ian is looking forward to the experience, but "will be brushing up on my languages so I don′t get caught out. Also, after the summer we′ve had so far, I expect to get wet." From a working perspective, the hours will be long and being away from home and family for almost three weeks will prove difficult for Ian but he is accustomed to working at events, maybe not on such a high scale as at the Olympics, but he has been involved in working at Chester Races, and has also policed in the past at Euro ′96, motor racing venues, football grounds, concerts and festivals. In June 2007, he was part of the Neighbourhood Policing Team who visited the House of Commons for Prime Minister′s Questions in conjunction with their local MP.

In the build up to the Olympics, Ian was involved in the Torch Relay as it passed through Chester City Centre. "A very early start, but the crowds who turned up to watch at such an early hour proved how the Games has created real excitement and how witnessing the relay was many people′s way of getting involved." Ian is a big sports fan so this is the ultimate experience for him. A fan of track and field, cycling and swimming, he will be on the look out for anyone from Team GB past or present within the Olympic Village, especially Jessica Ennis!

Ian performs a valued role in the rural neighbourhood team within Frodsham and because they are a close knit team, they work well together. "We are used to filling in for each other during periods of leave or redeployment. As a support officer, the impact on fellow officers who will be covering my work will not be too significant". During his deployment to the Games, Ian foresees his role in terms of giving directions and ensuring the safety of visitors at all times. Ian concludes as he talks of it being a career high for him, and how pleased he is to be a part of the Games in some way; "What an opportunity! It really is a chance in a lifetime and I feel really privileged to be involved in such a global event. The coming together of the world′s best sporting icons and I will be there to play a part in the national policing effort." British Bobbies are renowned as being the best in the world. With the world coming to the UK, we need to live up to that expectation.

Ian will be one of several officers who will be reporting his experiences from the Olympics, so that the public can get involved and gain an insight from his blogger′s diary. All blogs can be followed from 27 July to 12 August by following our main website and twitter links − follow the link from the homepage at http://www.cheshire.police.uk/ or post your comments at twitter.com/cheshirepolice. We are also running Olympic themed competitions on cheshirepolice.uk and upbeat.co.uk over the next few weeks, starting 20.7.12.

Missing from home appeal on behalf of West Mercia Police

West Mercia Police is appealing for the public to report any sightings of a missing Shropshire man.

Michael Ashton, aged 81, was reported missing on Saturday 7 July after he was last seen at his home on Friday 6 July.

Mr Ashton, of Church Street, Ellesmere, is described as being white, around 6ft tall with a slim build and as having grey hair and a beard. He is described as wearing glasses and is likely to be wearing a blue jumper and cream trousers.

It is believed he may be in the Cheshire area.

Mr Ashton is considered to be very vulnerable and concerns are growing for his safety.

A spokesperson for West Mercia Police said: "Mr Ashton has been missing for over a week now and understandably, his family are extremely worried about him. It is vitally important we find him and reunite him with his family as soon as we can.

"If anyone sees someone who they believe may be Mr Ashton please do approach him and then call the police if it does appear to be him."

Anyone who knows where Mr Ashton is, or who believes they may have seen him over the past couple of days, is asked to contact West Mercia Police as soon as possible on 101 or 0300 333 3000.

Great green spaces get Green Flags – again!

Seven of Cheshire East’s parks and green spaces have been awarded prestigious Green Flag Awards – again!

Awards have been given to:

• The Moor in Knutsford;
• Congleton Park (picture attached);
• Tatton Park;
• Tegg’s Nose Country Park, Macclesfield (picture attached);
• Brereton Heath Local Nature Reserve (picture attached);
• Sandbach Cemetery Butterfly Garden;
• Bollington Recreation Ground.

Councillor Rod Menlove, Cabinet member in charge of environmental services, said: “I know that many residents treasure their local park, green space or nature reserve and we’re very proud that seven sites across Cheshire East have been recognised with the Green Flag Award. 

“Well-managed and high-quality green areas are one of the things that people feel a direct benefit of in terms of what their Council Tax helps to pay for and which they are able to enjoy all year around. Even a short walk around Brereton Heath, for example, can lift the spirits and improve well-being – even in a rainy summer!”

Management of these sites is by dedicated staff, such as our park gardeners and rangers, together with volunteers, such as Friends of Congleton Park and dedicated individuals.  For example, at Tatton Park, there have been volunteers helping in the gardens since the 1900s and today’s volunteers make a valuable contribution to the gardens, park and farm.

Tatton Park has also won a Green Heritage Site Award – given to parks and green spaces

which have local or national historical importance

Police seek witnesses to serious collision on the M6

 

Police are appealing for witnesses to a collision on the M6 northbound between junction 18 and 19.

At 5am on Sunday 15 July 2012 a black Seat Leon collided with the rear of a white DAF lorry.

The driver of the Seat Leon, a 25-year-old man from Thornton-Cleveleys, was taken to North Staffordshire Hospital with serious injuries. He remains in a critical condition.

Anyone who witnessed the collision should contact the Cheshire Police Motorway Unit on 101 quoting incident number 285 of 15 july 2012.

North West Olympic farewell

Tatton Park hosted a farewell event for 65 athletes from Oceania before they head off to London for the Olympics.

The athletes have been based across the region at various training camps as part of the North West London 2012 Consortium project.

To coincide with the send off, athletes were entertained by dancers from across Cheshire and Warrington as part of The Moment When project. This is a dance performance that is the flagship project of the Cultural Olympiad and the Big Dance 2012.

The Mayor of Cheshire East, Councillor George Walton, was also on hand to wish the athletes all the best for the upcoming games. 

Council to lobby Government over roads

 

Cheshire East Council is to lobby Government for additional funding to help repair roads damaged during the recent downpours.

Councillor Rod Menlove, Cabinet member in charge of environmental services, said: “Cheshire East Council’s emergency teams reacted swiftly in the face of extreme weather and they carried out a superb job in getting sandbags to residents and businesses.

“The professionalism and passion of our staff averted some very serious situations and my thanks go out to all of them.

“Granted, our Borough did not suffer like other areas that have made national news headlines but we are now left with some roads having been literally washed away. 

“The borough’s urban and rural roads have suffered three consecutive harsh winters and pot holes are appearing at a rate faster than can be filled.

"We estimate that by the end of the year, the Borough will have recorded over 30,000 pot holes on the network and have had to divert vital resources from other parts of the Highway budget to make sure that roads remain safe for all road users. Each pothole repair costs on average £50. That represents a lot of money and manpower and we should not be expected to cope with this alone."

“Let me assure residents that our leader Councillor Michael Jones and I will be knocking on the door of Government very loudly with a good business case as to why we need money to make our roads safe and passable.

“While we have a statutory duty to repair our roads, we also have a statutory duty to make sure that we are properly funded from central Government for this purpose.

“This will be my personal challenge before we move ahead into the next winter.”

Table Top Sale

A table top sale will take place on Saturday 28th July from 2pm at Wistaston Memorial Hall, Church Lane, Wistaston. The event is to raise funds for improvements to the Hall. For further details please phone 01270 665664.

A Cheshire and Warrington Cultural Olympiad dance project

A Cheshire and Warrington Cultural Olympiad dance project called 'The Moment When…' - http://www.themomentwhen.org/ - took place at Tatton Park (http://www.tattonpark.org.uk/) this afternoon (Sunday 15 July 2012).

It was organised by Walk the Plank (http://www.walktheplank.co.uk/) and Cheshire Dance (http://www.cheshiredance.org/) and was inspired by the return of the Olympic Games to the United Kingdom. The Tatton Park performance of 'The Moment When…' was the finale following successful performances at Chester Racecourse in May and Orford Jubilee Park in Warrington in June.

Thousands viewed this free event under brilliant sunshine which saw 200 dancers performing to a specially-composed musical score on the ground, on ropes in the air and on a boat in the water against the backdrop of Tatton Mere. There were also spectacular fireworks.

Two Nantwich-based groups (Chrysalis Dance Group and The Nantwich Freerunners) were involved and practiced on Friday evening, all day yesterday (Sat) and Sunday morning. Chrysalis Dance Group for people with special needs, who are based at Guy Harvey Youth Centre on Birchin Lane were involved at various stages during 'The Moment When…'. The Nantwich Freerunners (http://www.thenantwichfreerunners.org.uk/) performed moves including palm spins, dive rolls, flips, stalls, and quadrupedal movements for 20 minutes as visitors arrived along a woodland entrance path. They were also involved at various stages during 'The Moment When…'. The Nantwich Freerunners spokesman Joel Howells said, "I was worried that the landscape would overshadow the performance, but instead it enhanced it greatly and with the music and movement mixing in made it a moment to remember".

Special guests included the Mayor of Cheshire East Councillor George Walton & Mayoress Veronica Walton, along with London 2012 Olympics athletes and officials from Oceanic countries including Fiji, Micronesia, Samoa and Vanuatu.

Tennis anyone

Wistaston Jubilee Tennis Club is offering junior tennis coaching on their courts in August. Jordan Young is an LTA approved coach who will be coaching for five days (9:30am-12pm and 1-3:30pm) during 13-17 August and 20-24 August. Price = £40 per child per week. Wistaston Jubilee Tennis Club is located behind Wistaston Memorial Hall, Church Lane, Wistaston, CW2 8ER. For further information contact either Bill Heath 01270 560471 or Chris Raiswell 01270 569147 & 07801 318112.

The South Cheshire Young Musicians

The South Cheshire Young Musicians (SCYM) - http://www.scym.co.uk/ - performed a fund-raising concert earlier this evening (Fri 13 July) at Hough Village Hall. David Ketley was master of ceremonies and the accompanist. The concert featured solo and duet performances with instruments played including piano, flute, violin, cello, clarinet, guitar and bassoon. All proceeds will go to SCYM and The Dogs Trust (http://www.dogstrust.org.uk/).

SCYM were set up by David Ketley in 2006 to give young people an opportunity to practice and perform before live audiences. New members are always welcome. Visit http://www.scym.co.uk/ for further information.

Forthcoming SCYM concerts include:

- Monday 1st October - Crewe Hall - 7:30pm start - includes the trophy presentation by Crewe and Nantwich MP Edward Timpson to the winner of the Young Composer of the Year Competition.

- Sunday 25th November - Capesthorne Hall, The Queen Anne Room - 1:30pm onwards.

- Friday 7th December - Christmas Concert - Hough Village Hall - 7:00pm start.

CHESHIRE EAST LOCAL PLAN & RELATED DEVELOPMENTS

 

I am writing to set out our approach to planning and development in Cheshire East following the publication of the National Planning Framework and fresh development proposals across various parts of the Borough. This follows a number of queries from local Councils plus a number of letters on this subject in the local Press.

Our main priority is the preparation of a new Local Plan for Cheshire East. This will replace the existing Plans from the former boroughs – and will look ahead to the year 2030 and beyond. The Council has already undertaken considerable work to progress the Local Plan:

• Consolidation and expansion of the Local Plan Evidence Base from 2009 onwards
• Publication of the ‘Issues & Options’ paper in Autumn of 2010
• Launch of the ‘Place Shaping’ public consultation in Summer 2011
• Completion of 4 Town Strategies under the pioneering government ‘Neighbourhood Planning Initiative’ in Spring 2012
• 7 further Town Strategies underway – Summer 2012

Preparing a Local Plan is a major undertaking for the Council –  it is a statutory process and we need to follow national guidance and regulation as we proceed. There are several key steps involved in finalising a local plan – and each takes considerable time and expense to complete.

Evidence Gathering. The Council needs to have a good understanding of the Borough as it stands now, before we can plan for the future. Consequently it’s essential that we have a strong evidence base in place to underpin our plan making. Local Government re-organisation proved regrettably disruptive to the process of plan making in the former Boroughs – with each unfortunately embarking on different approaches and programmes. This necessitated considerable re-evaluation of progress made – plus further work in this field to take account of a larger borough and new responsibilities – but without such evidence the Council risks making ill informed decisions about our towns and villages.

Town Strategies. The Council is keen to work with Town & Parish Councils and has embarked on a major programme of preparing town strategies. We consider that local people should have a genuine say in the shaping of their own communities. Consequently we will publish individual and distinctive strategies for each of the eleven largest towns in the Borough. We will start public consultation on the next phase later in the summer – covering the towns of Crewe, Handforth, Knutsford, Macclesfield, Nantwich & Poynton.

Borough Development Strategy. To compliment the ‘grass roots’ approach of town strategies we will also consult the public on a draft ‘high level’ Development strategy for the Borough. This will set options for the overall number of homes and jobs that will be needed over the next 20 years – and will suggest totals for each of the main towns in the Borough, employing evidence gathered from the various town strategies .  In the same way the Borough strategy will also identify some of the main infrastructure challenges that we will face over the next two decades.

The Core Strategy & Site Allocations. These initial stages will then be brought together to produce the final elements of the Local Plan – the overarching Core Strategy and the more detailed Site Allocations document. Collectively these two publications will comprise the new Cheshire East Local Plan. The Core Strategy will be prepared first – and will run approximately a year ahead of the site allocations phase. We aim to publish the draft Core Strategy in the spring of 2013 with adoption following in early in 2014. Both stages of the Local plan will be subject to formal public consultation – and will also need to pass the test of independent examination by the Planning Inspectorate.

The Council is committed to producing the Local Plan in a timely way, recognising the value to local communities, businesses and investors of having an up to date development plan. However we must also be thorough and rigorous in our approach, mindful that any plan we produce must withstand the scrutiny of external examination.

Interim Policies. Until the Local Plan is finalised we need to carefully manage development in the Borough. The Government requires us to provide a rolling five year supply of deliverable housing sites. Through the combined consequences of the recession and past policies of restraint, we cannot currently meet that obligation across Cheshire East. The Council recognises the value of a good supply of housing in providing accommodation for future generations and aiding economic recovery. However, it is also vital that developments are brought forward in a planned and managed way. Consequently we have published an Interim Planning Policy that sets out how housing supply can be improved, in accordance with the democratic wishes of local people. A revision of this policy has recently undergone public consultation and will be go to a future meeting of the Council. We see this as a positive a proactive measure to manage developments ahead of the publication of the Local Plan.

Planning Applications. The Council faces a number of speculative planning applications, mainly for housing, on sites that are not identified in our development plans. We will consider each of these on their planning merits. However in principle we believe that growth and development works best when it is planned and coordinated – and when local people have had a proper say in its scale and location. We will not encourage applications on sites that do not conform to our policies – and where proposals are clearly contrary to prevailing plans and guidance we will vigorously oppose them.

Our aim is to provide Cheshire East with a strong and clear planning framework for the future. By giving priority to the Local Plan whilst managing development in the meantime we are confident we can provide the best possible outcomes for all our communities