Councillor Road shop owners left in the dark about Cheadle towns fund
- Cheadle Town Fund announces £500,000 grant for improvements
- Councillor Lane among areas listed for improvement
- Most shop owners are unaware of councils plans for the area
Cheadle residents and business owners say they have been kept in the dark about a £500,000 fund to improve their neighbourhood.
The town fund aims to fund “projects that can deliver early connectivity, encourage people to be active, raise the profile of Cheadle and pilot green and healthy solutions”.
The list of planned improvements includes:
- A new cycle track at Ashfield Road to provide an important link through to Cheadle Village Centre
- A package of measures to pilot a “School Street” scheme at Cheadle Primary School
- Installation of a Parklet on Cheadle High Street
- The creation of a Community High Street Information point
- Improvements to Councillor Road shopping area
- Wildlife and ecological improvements at Abney Hall Park
- Improvements to Diamond Jubilee including pathways and new fitness equipment
Among the plans listed, “improvements to the Councillor Road shopping area” are mentioned, but when questioned by NQ only two of the shops in this area had any knowledge of the Cheadle Towns Fund and only one had been contacted directly with a letter.
Maria, owner of Cheadle Chippy, said she had received no information about the town’s fund and has not been asked for input on improvements to the Councillor Road shopping area.
She said she parking spaces needed to be remarked and clear signage needed to be provided for patrons with disabilities.
Raja, the owner of Cheadle Superstore, had also received no information about the fund or the improvements but expressed his frustration at having to previously spend £800 of his own money to repair the damaged access road to the back of his shop.
He said: “You can’t get the council to fix the road but if there’s a mess there they’ll call you and expect you to clean it up.”
Now that the Towns Fund from Stockport Council has been announced, he hopes to see some compensation for the roadwork he had to pay for.
Improvements to Councillor Road shopping area were proposed during a meeting of Towns Fund interim board by councillor David Mellor who expressed the need for better access and parking arrangements.
Conservative MP for Cheadle, Mary Robinson, suggested new access to Councillor Lane via St David’s Road or Brookfield Drive to make public transport more accessible to residents.
No further mention of these improvements has been made at subsequent meetings and no business owners from councilor road have been in attendance.
Stockport council currently has no further information beyond the initial press release which can be found on stockport’s councils website, with a finishing date of March 2021.