Questions over road scheme
PRESTBURY Parish Council is calling on Cheshire East Council to provide answers on how a cross-county road scheme would impact on Prestbury residents.
The South East Manchester Multi-Modal Strategy covers an area to the south east of Manchester including parts of Cheshire East, Derbyshire, Stockport and Tameside local authority areas. It includes a number of proposals designed to improve public transport and the use of road space, encourage urban regeneration and improve highways.
Cheshire East Council is in consultation over plans for the Poynton Relief Road, which will link with the A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road (A6MARR) and London Road (A523). The £30m road project aims to boost transport links to Macclesfield and plans include improvements to the Bonis Hall Lane/ London Road junction. Proposals also include improved signs at Issues Wood at the London Road/Prestbury Lane junction and the possible installation of speed cameras.
But the Parish Council says residents need a traffic model that shows how the whole scheme, rather than just the Poynton Relief Road, will affect Prestbury.
Village councillors’ main concerns are traffic, air quality and the surrounding landscape in the village.
Speaking on behalf of the Parish Council, Butley ward councillor Lillian Burns said: “What we need is a bespoke traffic model, not one used for Greater Manchester.
“We keep asking for traffic models but all we have is isolated modelling for the Poynton Relief Road. What we need to know is what the impact will be when not just one relief road is built but all of them.”
She added they had also asked for environmental appraisals. She said: “All we ever do is ask lots of questions. We consistently feel illinformed.”
The Prestbury Lane/ London Road junction also had ‘one of the worst accident records of any junction in Prestbury’, she claimed, adding: “We would welcome speed cameras but we need other suggestions to improve things as well”.
The Poynton Relief Road consultation is open until November 30. Residents can have their say at cheshireeast.gov. uk.