Dear Editor,
In January 2021 and December and August 2020, I wrote a letter to Nantwich News raising my concerns for the safety of pedestrians on the busy Wistaston Green Road in Wistaston, due to the obstructions and narrowing of the path and its degraded road surface adjacent to the Bellway ‘Kingfisher Reach’ housing development construction site.
I also separately reported the hazards on Cheshire East Council’s ‘Report It’ website, http://www.cheshireeasthighways.org/report-it-general.aspx
However, the situation has still yet to improve – hence my latest letter.
Some sections of Wistaston Green Road between the Golden Jubilee Bridge and Brydson Crescent junction have been patched up but there are still numerous potholes and ruts on other parts of the road.
The obstructions and the narrowing of the path, caused by signage and fenced off areas at the roadside, on Wistaston Green Road due to the Bellway construction site, are also still in place.
These factors make social-distancing Covid pathways impossible without a party stepping further into the road to pass each-other.
It is still too dangerous due to the muddy and slippery path to walk the entire route, so I have to access a tarmacked section of the estate, then walk across a muddy section of the estate and re-join the path, to continue my journey safely onward toward Nantwich as clearly Bellway don’t consider the safety of walkers adjacent to their housing estate!
‘PEDESTRIANS IN ROAD’ signs have been added along this section of road, but Cheshire East Council should have forced Bellway to build a tarmacked footpath alongside the affected area on Wistaston Green Road prior to the start of construction on their housing development.
Bellway need to urgently liaise with Cheshire East Council to improve pedestrian safety by removing the obstructions and widening and tarmacking the pathway, otherwise I fear there will be a collision with a member of the public!
Cheshire East Council and Bloor will have blood on their hands if a pedestrian is injured or worse.
However, it seems to me that profits are placed over human life.
Yours,
Jonathan White
Wistaston
It should have been part of the planning permission to improve both the access roads and the pavements.
If people are to be encouraged to live a greener lifestyle there needs to be the infrastructure to support this.