PARISH COUNCIL BULLETIN No.3.
MARCH 2003
PRECEPT
Your Council Tax Bill for 2003/04 shows the Parish Precept at £141,067.00.
For a Band D house the Parish Precept charge for the year is £23.47, or
45p per week.. This represents an increase of 4p per week or £2.34
per year on 2002/03 charges.
The Parish Council will be using this money to provide and improve its
existing services, i.e. the Civic Hall, Poynton Park, Brecon Close and
Hockley Play Areas, bus shelters, notice boards and some highway seats,
afternoon staffing for the Information Centre and our ever-increasing
Lengthsman service. In addition, money will be allocated to
specific funds including maintenance work on Princes Incline trees,
improvements to facilities and storage at the Civic Hall, improvements
to "footway" lighting to bring it up to highway standard, and,
new for this year, initiatives to combat crime and disorder issues.
CIVIC HALL
The new Information Centre has been well received. The extended
opening hours, staffed by Parish Council employees, and "one-stop
shop" services are proving of real benefit with over 2000 calls on
the Service during March.
Did you know that there is Benefits Surgery held on the first Tuesday of
the month, as part of the Information Centre services? The surgery
runs from 1.00 p.m. - 3.00 p.m. and staff are available to answer any
questions and assist with benefits advice. For further details,
please call in at the Civic Hall.
The confidential counselling service "You and Yours", is now
located at the Civic Hall. The Parish Council is working towards
providing the service with its own accommodation within the building, so
that counselling sessions can be effectively managed. The
accommodation will, hopefully, be provided as a result of the Civic Hall
Development Plan which is in the early stages of consultation and
preparation. The Plan will look at present usage and future
trends, address specific accommodation requirements, and improve
facilities and storage space for our hirers.
PLAY AREAS
The long-term problems at Hockley Play Area seem to be drawing to a
close. A soakaway has been constructed to remove some of the
surface water, and tenders are now out for further drainage works, which
should restore the play area to a green and grassy area, instead of a
permanently wet, muddy site.
POYNTON INCLINES
The on-going management plan for the Incline trees will continue in the
coming year with further works carried out on Princes Incline.
During 2002/03, over £7000 was spent in felling and pruning tress which
were categorised as most in need. The coming year will see the
next phase of the plan put in hand.
HIGHWAYS
The Parish Council has been successful in persuading the Highway
Authority to install a pelican crossing at Hockley junction, after many
years of campaigning. Work on the installation is underway.
As part of our campaign for pedestrian safety, particularly in the
vicinity of local schools, we have asked the Borough Council to look at
providing a traffic calming scheme on Clumber/Bulkeley Roads.
Consultation on this proposal should take place in April, but we are
still waiting for the draft plans to be submitted.
CAR PARKING
Did you know that the Borough Council is carrying out a review of all
its car parks, including the one at the Civic Hall? The Parish
Council has made it very clear to the Review Panel that any suggestion
of charging for parking at the Civic Hall should be dismissed. We
have made a strong case against charging, based on the impact on the
local community, the detrimental effect on local businesses, the
potential increase in illegal parking on nearby streets including Park
Lane, and the consequent dangers to pedestrians, especially
schoolchildren and the elderly. Please support the Parish Council
and write to Cllr R Watson, Chairman, Car Park Review Panel,
Macclesfield Borough Council, Town Hall, Macclesfield. SK10 1DX
Poynton Parish Council Bulletin -
October 2002
Information Centre
Work is now well underway to provide the new Information Services Centre
at the Civic Hall. Our thanks to everyone for your patience and
understanding whilst the work is taking place. Hopefully the
majority of the work should be completed by the end of October.
Pedestrian Safety
The Parish Council has lobbied for a pedestrian crossing at Hockley
junction for many years. At the meeting of the Street Lighting
& Highways Committee on Monday, 23rd September 2002 Members were
delighted to receive notification of a report submitted to Macclesfield
Joint Highways Committee which recommends the installation of a Puffin
crossing at this junction.
Telecommunications Equipment
The Parish Council has asked Macclesfield Borough Council to issue
Supplementary Planning Guidance on the installation of
telecommunications equipment and recently organised a meeting between
Crown Castle UK, T Mobile and local residents to discuss the proposal to
erect antennae on the BT telephone exchange on London Road North.
Lengthsman
Our Parish Lengthsman has spent the last few weeks cutting back nettles
from public footpaths, removing graffiti from play equipment and
clearing litter from various sites around the village. He has also
repaired the guttering on two bus shelters and painted out the graffiti
on the brickwork.
Access Path - Poynton Park
Work will soon be underway to extend the path in Poynton Park from the
boathouse to South Park Drive car park.
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