Leighton, Minshull Vernon and Woolstanwood Parish Council says it is willing to pay to improve safety along Crewe's Valley Brook preventing flooding, but Cheshire East Council won't let them.

For five years, the civil local authority has tried to get safety improvements along the cycleway/footpath starting from King George V Playing Fields and Lodgefields housing estate in Woolstanwood.

This route goes alongside Queens Park Golf Course, winding its way by Valley Brook, until coming out onto Middlewich Road, close to The Rising Sun pub.

A map of Valley Brook meandering through Woolstanwood in Crewe (Leighton, Minshull Vernon and Woolstanwood Parish Council).

One of the major areas of concern is the section running down alongside the golf course, which has a steep incline with sharp blind bends.

It is where cyclists encounter children walking with their parents or being pushed in push chairs, similarly dog walkers, the elderly on mobility scooters or those just out for a leisurely walk.

On this section alone, North West Air Ambulance has been called out to two occasions, fortunately without life threatening consequences.

The financial cost for these incidents is in the region of £7,000.

Leighton, Minshull Vernon and Woolstanwood Parish Council asked Cheshire East to provide simple road signage, making walkers and cyclists aware of the dangers along this Crewe route.

In July 2019, a meeting was set up with a councillor and the lead maintenance officer for Cheshire East. 

For five years, Leighton, Minshull Vernon and Woolstanwood Parish Council has tried to get safety improvements along the cycleway/footpath starting from King George V Playing Fields and Lodgefields housing estate in Woolstanwood (Nub News).

Leighton, Minshull Vernon and Woolstanwood Parish Council say to this day, nothing has been done, with Cheshire East saying they had no money to do anything. 

The Parish council then said they would pay for it, and in 2020, got a quotation from a company who specialises in road markings. This amounted to £5,134.24 including VAT.

Continued attempts throughout 2020 and 2021 got the parish council no closer to getting safety measures implemented on this "dangerous" section of the pathway, despite a meeting with former Crewe and Nantwich Conservative MP, Kieran Mullan.

In October 2021, the parish council spoke to Cheshire East's safety team assistant manager, along with properties and highways managers for clarification on who was responsible for this pathway, with no success.

Woolstanwood parish councillor, Philip Williams, told Nub News: "The pathway is currently in a poor condition, with the parts of the pathway crumbling into the brook.

"This fencing, which was set on fire two years ago and replaced by plastic barriers, are themselves falling into the brook due to the erosion of the footpath by the flooding of the brook.

The end of the Valley Brook pathway on the A530 Middlewich Road, close to The Rising Sun pub (Google).

"This occurs regularly due to the amount of debris which builds up along sections of the pathway. All of which endangers everyone using the pathway.

"So here we are in October 2024, still no safety signage along the pathway, but we have ascertained that it is highways responsibility along with the erosion of the pathway into the brook."

Leighton, Minshull Vernon and Woolstanwood Parish Council says Cheshire East is still "unwilling" to provide which department owns this part of the pathway.

Woolstanwood parish councillor, Dave Arthur said: "The continued prevarication by Cheshire East has caused the original cost for repairs to rise by at least 25 per cent due to increased costs of material and labour since 2020.

"They will only continue to do so, costing constituents more than necessary in their council taxes."

This September, plans for a Valley Brook Corridor Scheme, between Queens Park and Edleston Road, linking areas of the town with a new walking and cycling route, went on display.

Leighton, Minshull Vernon and Woolstanwood Parish Council publicity officer, Cllr Brian Sivester (Brian Silvester).

Parish council publicity officer, Cllr Brian Silvester, added: "You would think Cheshire East Council, which is close to going bust, would have been willing to let one of its local parish councils help to provide support on projects to save endangering its residents. But apparently not.

"Cheshire East are spending millions on the Valley Brook in Crewe, but they won't allow our parish council to spend a penny on Valley Brook in our parish."

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