South Cheshire Chronicle letters

Oct 6 2004

I SEE from the letters pages that I am not the only person to complain about the layout and road markings of the new Crewe Green junction. Everybody in Haslington who has to drive to Crewe is puzzled by it.

Your readers might like to know that the day after it opened I telephoned, and also wrote to, the county council highways department, pointing out some of the errors and with commendable speed the lane markings put down on its opening were revised a week later to make them more suited to the flow of traffic.

On the approach from Haslington there are two lanes. The left lane is now for the Crewe Railway Station (A534 West) direction, plus - when it opens - the new A5020 Link Road; the right lane is for Hunger-ford Road/Sydney Road, and the Haslington Bypass (A534 East).

Previously, the right-hand lane was marked for the Haslington Bypass (A534 East) only, totally contrary to the main traffic flow, and also counter-intuitive.

So things are a little better now, although the ugly clutter of traffic lights, signs, fences, etc, remains. Isn't modern highway engineering so ugly?

What remains unchanged is the approach from Hungerford Road, where your correspondent points out the excessive allocation of road space for the minimal Sydney Road traffic.

In addition, the approach off the roundabout to the Hungerford Road/Sydney Road traffic lights still remains unsatisfactory, with physical width for two lanes 'squeezed' into one by the painting of 'hatching' lines, reverting back to two at the traffic lights; a good recipe for collisions, I would think!

The correct layout should be two parallel exit lanes, one for Sydney Road and one for Hungerford Road as most people are now doing by driving over the hatching lines if they are going to Hungerford Road.

I have to say that one must question whether the theorists in Cheshire County Council Highways Department actually drive anywhere and experience their own handiwork.

So come on, lads and lasses, come and show us how it should be done.

You will not find any hint of this type of junction and its lane markings on Crewe Green junction in the Highways Code, so how we are to find out how to do things correctly, I am at a loss to understand.

And all this and the similar Crewe Arms Hotel roundabout and the Nantwich Road scheme 'benefits' to come for all of us to 'enjoy' while driving around Crewe!

And now for a bit of road traffic nostalgia for your older readers like me.

When I was a boy living near Reading in Southern England in the 50s and often travelling to London to visit grandma by bus, the bus passed through the town of Slough, then used by the Transport & Road Research Laboratory to carry out various experimental road traffic control schemes in the borough.

They called it 'Slough Safety Town' and the poor citizens had to put up with a continual stream of clever and not-so-clever schemes thought up by the boffins.

One of these was 'linked traffic lights', whereby if one kept at 30mph - as the bus did - one only usually stopped once at the first set of lights, then every set afterwards in the linkage would change to green as one approached it.

Nowadays, the traffic volumes of 2004 are such as to make this experiment seem almost laughable.

The traffic is so heavy it would just clog up.
FRASER MITCHELL Ashley Meadows, Haslington

YESTERDAY morning traffic was particularly heavy in the region of the Crewe Green roundabout.

On reaching the forest of traffic lights from the direction of Sydney, I found traffic failing to clear one set of lights before the next set turned to green, hence the chaos.

I contacted the Cheshire traffic management department, who acted by assessing the roundabout, finding several faults with the sequence of the lights - surprise, surprise.

My point is that this roundabout has only been completed a few weeks and already has faults. The road markings have been replaced at least once because they were wrong, and now the lights are faulty. What will it be like when the new link road to Rookery Wood opens?

In my opinion these roadworks have taken a bad roundabout and made it worse, not better.

Does the Highways Department not realise that the cheapest way to do anything is 'right first time'?

Can we expect a similar catalogue of problems when the vital Crewe Arms roundabout gets a forest of traffic lights, too?

A lot of local taxpayers' money is tied up in this road scheme, as is the future of the local economy.
PETER BAINBRIDGE Crewe

I HAVE read with interest the letters and articles concerning Berkeley Towers at Wistaston.

I was one of the key people keen to preserve Berkeley Towers and spent many months and time voluntarily assessing the local support for retaining the towers.

I have lived in the area for 10 years and see this as an important landmark in the local area. My husband, who is in the building trade, had no doubt that the building could be converted as it stood, into flats.

In my possession I have the plans to convert it into five flats. This would incorporate some of the features of the property and would blend with the developed area around it preserving the bats' residence and the conservation of the pond area and surrounding trees.

Despite a letter from the Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State for the Environment dismissing the appeal to demolish the Towers dated November 22, 2000, a petition signed by many people presented to the then chair of planning Chris Thorley in July 2000, and general local interest in preserving the building, yet again a few people on the planning committee have made a decision to demolish the building.

I am aware of the current state of the building and do not now wish to be told that it is past renovation.

If the action had been taken four years ago when we saved the building, none of the recent vandalism would have occurred.

I would like to state that the Save Berkeley Towers Action Group has not conceded this to be the best action, more a case of why did our two local councillors offer support at the time and now do not make any effort to uphold their support of the group or its original outcome?
LOCAL RESIDENT (name and address supplied)

REPLYING to all the hype concerning the moving of the Crewe war memorial, surely the real debate is being masked by these concerns?

The real issue is enhancing our town and attracting and enticing more shop-pers to shop in Crewe. The spending of some £3m enhancing two public squares will not achieve the desired outcome.

This scheme is only a cosmetic facelift for a town out of touch with the 21st Century. We cannot compete with the likes of Chester, Hanley or Manchester who have very good transport links and are easily accessible.

Re-modernising two squares will not, in my opinion, see an influx of shoppers willing to spend money in Crewe and boost much-needed trade.

The crux of the debate is successive councils' failure of future vision and trends. Crewe has expanded at an alarming rate over the past two decades and shopping facilities have not kept pace.

The inheritance of land acquired by successive councils has been ill-used and chances to provide great shopping facilities to rival other towns have been squandered.

One example is the retail park, with quick build warehouse-style units erected with no utilisation of space to the ultimate advantage. Land acquired from the old railway works is another example of failing the needs of an ever expanding town.

Both are examples of where Crewe could have competed in the retail world, by the building of an under-cover shopping mall to rival that of its neighbour Hanley, enticing well-known retail names to Crewe, and, in doing so, attracting more of the population of Crewe and surrounding areas to spend their money in our town.

We have the road and rail infrastructure, better than a lot of towns our size. So come on Crewe and Nantwich Council, put our town on the retail map, entice more shoppers, and don't mask the real debate with cosmetic issues.
DISAPPOINTED (name and address supplied)

I WAS disappointed to read that Gwyneth Dunwoody MP said the hunting ban was not important.

To me, as an animal-lover and one who hates any cruelty to animals, the ban is important and the sooner the better. This so-called 'sport' is barbaric and should have been banned years ago.

The mob, also known as the Country Alliance, keep bleating on about people's lives being spoiled. They did not care when Maggie destroyed mining and other industries. The pictures on TV showing those upper class idiots, who probably don't know what work is, barging into the House of Commons has made sure the hunting ban is secure.
MR W GIBSON Narrow Lane, Sandbach

I HAVE been helping Eveleigh Moore Dutton with the Conservatives' 'Save the Cheshire Regiment' campaign by handing out leaflets in Crewe and in Nantwich and asking people to sign the petition. We have received an excellent response.

However, I have been shocked with the attitude and behaviour of a small number of people who have refused to sign the petition and have waved away the proffered leaflet in a cavalier manner.

I would like to remind these people that this county regiment of ours has fought in the last two world wars defending us and many other conflicts around the world.

I would further wish to remind these people that we have needed and will most certainly need again, their rapid and diligent attention when, for example, the fire personnel go on strike again and there are problems like floods.

Have we all forgotten the last firefighters' strike when they manned the outdated Green Goddesses for us? I certainly was able to sleep in my bed at night, knowing they were out there.

This attitude disgusts me, as does the Govern-ment's dishonourable plans to amalgamate the Cheshire Regiment while they are actually on active service in Iraq. Our boys and girls are out there risking their lives whilst the mandarins in Whitehall are planning to get rid of them.

So, in conclusion, I encourage all the people of Cheshire to 'Save the Cheshires' which is a very old regiment and has given excellent service to our country since 1689. Don't just dismiss them with an autocratic wave of the hand.
F J FOX Darley Avenue, Crewe

I MOVED to Crewe from the Isle of Man, the year was 1958, I read my first Crewe Chronicle, oh, I thought it was great.

With news, views and letters, also lots of adverts too, Thursday then Wednesday was Chronicle day for people round and about Crewe.

The office was in High Street but worth the walk, News was an unbiased view, gave readers discussion and talks.

Reports on all the local news, charities supported, too, If you were needing a helping hand, publish in the Chronicle, Crewe.

Not forgetting Nantwich and all the surrounding places, Brought tears to some but most of all to readers' happy faces.

You need a dog, a shed, a car, just look inside the Chronicle, there's something there for you, But times move on so here we are, in the year 2004, In brand new premises in Victoria Street, we couldn't ask for more.

So I'd like to say to all the staff, a great big thanks for all your work and for everything you do, May you spend many, many happy years in the new site, Victoria Street, Crewe.
MR & MRS G EVANS Gainsborough Road, Crewe

IN response to Mr C Wright's letter (Views , September 15), I am sorry this retired police officer thinks that community wardens are wasting his and our money.

As for his suggestion the wardens tackle the socalled yobs on Nantwich Road, isn't that a job for the police?

SORRY (name and address supplied)