Dear Editor,
I would like to thank Ben Wye for publicising the policy of ‘Putting Crewe First’ on grass verges.(Letters 31/3/21)
Our policy is “Restore the very many damaged grass verges and protect them. Or turn them into hard standing to provide more off street parking. Residents will be allowed to choose what they want.”
It is obvious that Ben does not live in front of a deeply rutted grass verge that fills with water when it rains and is a total eyesore 24/7.
These obliterated grass verges are a nasty scar on local communities and reduce the value of houses in the area.
Grass verges that have been cut to pieces for years would not be allowed for 10 minutes in places like Alderley Edge, Wilmslow or Knutsford…….so why are they allowed to fester and continue in Crewe?
Why are Crewe residents treated like second class citizens?
What we are saying is that local people should be able to decide.
If a majority of residents want their grass verges retained they should be properly maintained and protected with low railings, to prevent vehicles encroaching on them.
If a majority of residents want their grass verges to be replaced with hard standing for parked vehicles, then that should happen.
This would be local street democracy in action. What is wrong with that Ben? Or don’t you believe in democracy?
I believe that the vast majority of Crewe West residents, who have totally destroyed grass verges in front of their homes, would agree with our grass verges policy.
Yours faithfully,
Cllr Brian Silvester
Candidate Crewe West
Putting Crewe First
Many house holds now have 2 cars.
It is more particle to make the verges a hard surface and put it to use.
Instead of fencing round a tiny piece of grass that isn’t serving a purpose.
Plus is would be more cost effective!
A majority of residents in a street should decide if the grass verges are restored and protected, or are made hard standing for residents parking.
It seems to me that Brian Sylvester has done little for years but advocate a course of action which has seen many fishermen lose their livelihood and seriously threatened the future of the rest of us. Is this sudden obsession with grass verges an attempt to distract us from to consequences of Brexit? Why isn’t Brian extolling the vertues of our new freedoms at the top of his voice? Instead of grovelling around in the mud of grass verges why isn’t he urging us upward to follow the fishing community onto the sun lit uplands of unemployment and poverty?
good point Keith. Cadent Gas has a poor record of rectifying their work. It is even worse when they are forced to dig up concrete, patches, uneven and dangerous slabs etc. whether they are public or privately owned.
For the record, I will now stand as a voluntary councillor for Crewe Town Council. Their powers do not include highways, that is Cheshire East, but i hope to help support residents’ voices that have for too long been ignored. For reference here is my original letter that sparked Brian’s response:
What kind of streets do you enjoy walking and living in? The suggestion by Brian Sylvester (letter 17th March) that residents could choose to destroy grass verges to make hard standing parking, is impractical, anti-social and ultimately damaging to the social and environmental fabric of the town. Verges are a public highway’s asset, for all neighbours to enjoy, not to be stolen as a private parking space.
Grass verges soak excess rainwater and protect housing from increasingly intense flash flooding which recently caused sewage spills in Wistaston Brook. Creatively used they could reduce the dangers that climate change presents. More trees could be planted to provide shade and prevent flooding and absorb pollutants. Even the thinnest strip of greenery provides an eco-systemic lifeline for a variety of wildlife. They improve mental health, by providing a more pleasant environment rand reduce the heat reflection of adjacent hard surfaces. They protect us physically from traffic and its pollutants and micro-particles.
The current gas pipe upgrade would be even more disruptive and damaging if all the trenches had to be dug through concrete, a lesson to bear in mind as we will need many electric car charging points installed over the next few years.
I spoke to a resident on Sunnybank road today and we were admiring a line of roadside trees. He said we were already building too much locally, and this small strip was his personal green belt, the heritage of his part of Crewe, and each foot of it should be protected.
Allowing anyone to tarmac our tradition, our tiny remaining green space, our public realm, is not ‘putting Crewe first’; its pandering to an ugly ‘me first’ culture. Sharing and caring for our public space is ‘good for you, and good for Crewe’.
I live on Woodford Close and recently we had the gas pipes upgraded.
The grassed areas on Woodford Close where they had dug up have been left an absolute eyesore and where they had put down earth it feels like you are sinking if you happen to walk across it.
For weeks we had no work being done due to Covid so the estate was an eyesore.
Will the council come and rectify this issue or even rip up the grassed area and replace it with off street parking?