Reporting back to Backford, Capenhurst, Lea-by-Backford and Mollington Parish Councils - November 2024

Lea-by-Backford Parish Council - 11th November 2024 (SE present in-person)

• 'SLOW' sign on Demage Lane, previously reported - has been escalated for attention.
• Public Right of Way - Demage Lane to Station Road, Backford (FP1) - raised for CWaC attention. NCN56 - area needs to be swept of debris. SE to action.
• Agreed in principle to invite the CWaC 'Digital Officer' to attend the January Parish Council to discuss broadband issues.
• Backford Brook gravel - SE met with resident and report raised with CWaC who have since assessed and provided advice (no further action needed).
• Tulip bulbs etc - many thanks to all those who helped to plant them (provided from SE's 'Member Budget').
• Learner drivers using lanes in the parish. This query has been logged with CWaC Highways for a response which SE will relay in due course.
• Drainage / flooding matters - site meeting arranged for 22/11/24 on Grove Road.

Backford Parish Council - 12th November 2024 (SE not able to attend; written report sent)

Owing to work commitments in London on 12th November 2024, I wasn’t able to be present in-person for the latest meeting of Backford and District Parish Council. The written report I submitted for consideration is repeated below for those who might be interested.

I am grateful to Cllr Mike Cheers for laying a wreath on my behalf (as I was at Chester Cathedral for the CWaC Civic Service) at St. Oswald’s Church, Backford on Remembrance Sunday.

After much prompting and chasing, the chevron warning sign replacement at the junction of Rake Lane / Little Rake Lane has now been actioned by CWaC (with the yellow edged signage as requested some time ago!)

Member budget, 2024/25. This remains open and so far I haven’t allocated any resource to a project in the Backford and District Parish. I would welcome any thoughts you might have on this, but they would need to be received ASAP as this will close for the current year at the end of January 2025. Please advise.

Planning – I note reference to the application at Collinge Farm on your agenda. I have been in liaison with Cllr Cheers on this matter and advised him on 11/11/24 as follows: “Unfortunately, it is still taking longer than we would like to process planning submissions. This application is moving forward in our queue, and we will get to it as soon as we can. To give you an indication of timescale, the application currently at the top of the queue is 76 days valid, whilst this application is currently 73 days valid. There are six application ahead of it in the queue and will soon be picked up by a planning officer.” Hopefully there will be progress soon.

War Memorial Trust. I have been in discussion with Parish Councillor, Sue Pownall (Lea-by-Backford) regarding ongoing challenges with this important charitable trust in the parish and wider area. As such I have agreed to involve myself modestly in some actions to help resolve this, which will also (hopefully) involve the new people within the parish, including some who are entitled to sit on the trust organisation. I hope to be able to update parish councillors on this soon.

Vines of Cheshire, off Liverpool Road, Backford. I enjoyed helping this new business with picking of grapes on 13 October 2024 and was impressed by their excellent wine making venture at this location which despite the challenges of the weather this year, looks to be thriving.

Miscellaneous reports:

- 03/10/24 – challenging relating to flood water in a field off Rake Lane (near the junction with Liverpool Road). Ref. CE651950898.

- 01/11/24 – footpath from Lea-by-Backford to Backford (Demage Lane to Liverpool Road). Impassable. Ref. CE659185422. Officer response on 04/11/24 as follows: “I attended this footpath on the 25th October and I cut back the vegetation surrounding the gate. I have added this path to the cutting list and requested the contractor to cut it back. I have noted that the Backford side of the footpath is not great as it is slippery and has water flowing down a steep incline. I will look to see if the drainage can be improved and steps put in but this will be budget dependant so I can’t guarantee when it will happen. There is also a tree down on the path which I shall attend to.”

Planning – application received on 08/11/24: Strawberry Mead, Whitby Lane, Backford, Chester CH1 6PH. Proposal: Additional storey to be added to the existing house Reference Number: 24/03262/PAA. This application will be determined under delegated officer powers only.

Poplar Hall Lane – drainage and road surface issues. There is frustration expressed by residents in respect of the speed of council investigations and positive solutions to these challenges. Although I continue to press for a resolution / positive engagement, the council is prioritising areas where the flood and drainage risk is to property rather than land (albeit that the latter is important and recognised as such).

Capenhurst & Ledsham Parish Council - 12 November 2024 (SE not able to attend; written report sent)

• Firstly, many congratulations to everyone associated with ‘Britain in Bloom’ this year. I was so pleased to learn of your ‘Gold’ success which was recently announced. Really tremendous!
• Member budget, 2024/25. This remains open and so far I haven’t allocated any resource to a project in the Capenhurst and Ledsham Parish. I would welcome any thoughts you might have on this but they would need to be received ASAP as this will close for the current year at the end of January 2025. Please advise.
• Miscellaneous reports:
  • 28/09/24 – dead sheep, Chapel House Lane, Ledsham – alerted by a resident. Reporting ref. TR650460217.
  • 10/11/24 – potholes outside Pool House, Ledsham village. Reporting ref. CE661282197.
  • 10/11/24 – potholes, Ledsham Village (entrance to The Stables / Puddle Cottage). Reporting ref. CE661282617.
  • 10/11/24 – flytipping – Capenhurst Lane (right-hand side on the approach to the village). Reported to CWaC but probably Urenco land / responsibility to clear. Ref. CE661283333. Urenco (via Neil) confirmed on 11/11/24 that this would be attended to ASAP.
  • 10/11/24 – flytipping – Dunkirk Lane – approaching the village on the right-hand side (Network Rail compound site). Reporting ref. CE661284319. I also sent this direct to CWaC Regulatory Services as when I attended, I saw extensive evidence of names / addresses. Regulatory Services informed me on 11/11/24 that they would attend the site to investigate ASAP.
• Temporary road closure – Dunkirk Lane. In force from 13th November 2024 for a maximum of 5 days. To deal with two large potholes (I imagine – this seems to be so as per the closure notice that CWaC have sent).
• National Highways: tour of the A550 Hooton - Shotwick Safety Improvement scheme (Friday 13th December 2024, 12.30-13.30):
  • National Highways are planning on undertaking a tour of the newly completed Safety Improvements scheme on the A550, this will give all stakeholders an insight in the works undertaken and the safety improvements delivered along the route. These improvements consist of the following elements:
    • Public right of way access improvements.
    • New footway installations.
    • New VRS (vehicle restraint barrier) installation.
    • Removal of existing lighting columns and installation of new passive safe lighting columns incorporating LED luminaires.
    • Installation of 2 new lighting feeder pillars.
    • Removal of existing fixed speed enforcement cameras and installation of 12 new speed enforcement sites.
    • Installation of 9 new cabinets for enforcement camera technology.
    • Removal of existing redundant VAS (vehicle activated signs) and installation of new VAS’s.
    • Removal of non-illuminated and illuminated traffic signs and Installation of new non-illuminated and illuminated traffic signs.
    • Cabling and associated ducting/chamber infrastructure.
    • Maintenance of existing access footways.
    • Works on trees 39 no. for highway safety purposes.
    • Works on trees 49 no. trees due to Ash Die Back.
    • Wild meadow landscape planting to offset vegetation clearance loss.
  • I have passed on the email ref. all the above to the Clerk / Chair. It contains details around how to register to attend.
• Capenhurst Lane and associated areas – drainage matters:
  • CWaC update of 25/10/24 on the ‘main’ issues here, as follows (their comments are in red in response to points raised by Mike Farwell; I added some comment which is shown in purple to one point in the copy below):

1. Ditch Maintenance ‘The Crown Estate’ – there are numerous landowners in this location who have riparian owner responsibilities under The Land Drainage Act 1991 with regards to maintenance of the ditch. One of those riparian owners is ‘The Crown Estate’. Once we established this via a land registry search, we contacted ‘The Crown Estate’ to inform them of the flooding issues and their responsibilities as landowners.  We received a response from their land agent, so far refusing to take action.  As a result, the LLFA have drafted a response, explaining in detail the legal ramifications of refusing to carry out the work required.  We have submitted this draft response to our Legal team for assessment, along with the initial response from ‘The Crown Estate’ so that Legal can understand the basis of their refusal.  We await our Legal team’s decision on this. This is still with our legal team and the LLFA are awaiting a response and clarification on action that can be taken.
2. Ditch Maintenance ‘Other Riparian Owners’ – as explained above, ‘The Crown Estate’ are not the only landowner with responsibilities for ditch maintenance in this location.  We are currently gathering information on who these landowners are and will shortly be engaging with them.  This will be on an informal basis to begin with, to hopefully encourage landowners to work together, perhaps sharing resources and agreeing actions between themselves to carry out the work required.  We find that in similar situations where we are dealing with multiple landowners, an informal approach to begin with often has more success in promoting engagement and leading to a positive outcome for all.  We will come back to you with more information on this shortly.  The LLFA have carried out an extensive exercise to determine all relevant landowners that have responsibilities to clear ditches.  The LLFA have started to engage with these landowners to start communications between parties and to make them aware of their responsibilities under The Land Drainage Act 1991 to allow the free flow of water. Stephen has also met Cllr Eardley and most of the landowners with National Highways on site to discuss the process, which concluded with the downstream culvert under the A5117/A494 needing to be addressed by National Highways before clearing sections upstream.  This is to help avoid causing additional unnecessary flooding in other areas due to the current restriction in the A5117/A494 culvert.  I believe either yourself or Cllr Eardley had passed this over to National Highways – do you have an update on this?  As soon as we receive confirmation that this culvert has been cleared, the LLFA can start to move forward with working with upstream landowners. No update as yet from National Highways. We have lost our main contact there, Andy Raynor, but I have dropped a note to other contacts this evening asking for an update which I will relay to the group here ASAP. Mike also references the Powey Lane culvert / fencing issues in his email to you. I logged two issues here as follows: (1) 20/08/24 – damaged culvert railings (CE640187834) and (2) 30/08/24 – blocked culvert under the road (CE64207863). I have escalated both these cases this evening as no updates have been forthcoming but it may be that issue number (2) is pending the NH update. I have stressed in respect of NH the urgency of moving this forward.
3. Powey Lane Culvert – Lewis has confirmed that the culvert under Powey Lane consists of 2 no. 600mm diameter pipes.  The upper most pipe he states is running well, the lower pipe however is currently buried due to lack of maintenance around the head of the culvert.  This issue will be addressed during the landowner liaison I mentioned above, which will then allow us the required access to carry out any CCTV and jetting works. This comment still stands – as soon as the culvert under the A5117/A494 is cleared we can move forward with this.
4. A5117/A494 Culvert – The culverted section under the A5117/A494 is the responsibility of National Highways. We will gladly forward the request for cleansing/inspection to our contact in National Highways on the residents’ behalf. As mentioned above – I believe either yourself or Cllr Eardley have reported this to National Highways and we await an update.

• National Highways update (culvert near Powey Lane) – 28/10/24: “We haven’t forgot about this location but were just trying to confirm how this was going to be funded.  This has now been confirmed and we are just waiting to check availability for the contractor to attend site and undertake the works. We need to produce a Preconstruction Information Pack, which involves consulting our environmental team, prior to undertaking the work to ensure there are no environmental constraints and once we have this in place we will be in a position to commence the works. We need to ensure that we have agreements in place with the appropriate landowners, in order to access for the clearance and were wondering if one of the attendees at the August meeting, would have the appropriate contacts? Finally, this watercourse looks like it is a Local Authority watercourse, so might need to speak to someone from your Flooding Team, to see if any permits are required ahead of undertaking the clearance work.” I have since seen some further correspondence around moving forward permits and payments for so this looks to continue to develop positively from what I can see.
• Powey Lane culvert (not the National Highways one). Report query: Grid/Drain: Blocked - Culvert blocked and not draining / operating as it should. See also report CE640187834 (damaged railings) - this is separate to it though. The culvert here is not flowing. A resident has been into the ditch and identified that the pipe on the left of the first image (which is submerged in water and not visible) is blocked and requires clearing. Please can this be actioned. I also attach an historic image which shows the presence of the 2x pipes in case this is in doubt. Response from officer on 31/10/24: “Following receipt of your enquiry a works instruction was issued for the culvert to be cleared however the enquiry was assigned the incorrect closure code which resulted in you not receiving a prompt response.”
• Powey Lane – safety fencing near above culvert. Report query: “Damaged street furniture: Street Furn. - Repair - Exposure of the hedging here has revealed the metal posts which are a safety feature where this culvert is have fallen into disrepair and is hazardous. Various items of metal are also sticking out of the ground. A repair is needed. This is a narrow section of the road and well used by cyclists / horse riders and could present a danger.” Response from officer on 31/10/24: “I refer to your enquiry concerning the above, firstly please accept my apologies for not providing you with a response to this sooner. Unfortunately, I have not yet inspected the defective fencing however I have made arrangements to visit the location next week and following this will provide you with an update.”  I await a further update from him as I assume the site visit has now taken place.

Mollington Parish Council – 21st November 2024 (SE present in-person)

• HyNet project engagement – note sent to Clerk on 17/11 around future engagement with the project team – they are keen to brief PCs periodically. Suggestion is that this happens on a fairly regular basis (when there is something to update) – further suggestion is for 2x reps of the PC to be present (joint with Backford, LBB and Saughall)
• Aerona, Grove Road – flooding and drainage related challenges – site meeting tomorrow morning (22/11) with the residents affected and LLFA officers
• Trees:
  • Well Lane pruning works – have been undertaken
  • Tarrant Court – 2x trees at entrance here are to be removed
  • Suggestion is that we consider planting a new tree at the Tarrant Court site, possibly as a memorial tree for the 80th anniversary of the end of WW2
• Tulip planting- any more needed? SE happy to assist
• War Memorial Trust – SE update – Vicar engagement potentially
• Freedom Fibre – siting of a Cabinet outside the school (on the green) – in touch with them – PC to make a representation
• Miscellaneous:
  • Openreach – damage to verges has been extensively reported but very disappointing outcomes ultimately
  • Field – entrance to Crabwall Manor – ‘works’ being undertaken there – logged with CWaC Planning Enforcement – await investigations
  • Townfield Lane weeds – spraying and mechanical removal has happened but perhaps not as extensive as would have been liked – SE to pursue
  • Townfield Lane mud – CWaC have been engaged (have issued a notice to farmer) – challenge of the weather etc
  • Fingerpost green area – are there options we could consider to prevent further erosion of the green?