Victory for pedestrians who can now walk safely to a farm shop near busy Sandbach road
By Deborah Bowyer 2nd Feb 2025
Families and those pushing wheelchairs will be able to walk to and from a local farm shop this summer instead of using their cars - after major improvements to a busy road in Sandbach.
The overgrown footpath on Crewe Road near Wheelock Hall Farm shop was cleared two years ago, signalling the first stage of the improvement project.
But now the footpath has been resurfaced, enabling pedestrians to walk safely to and from Wheelock Hall Farm Shop instead of getting into cars.
And local councillor and vice chair of Cheshire East Council's Highways and Transport Committee, Councillor Laura Crane, who used some of her ward budget to fund it, couldn't be happier.
"The footpath will help everyone and makes it possible to walk along this stretch of busy road. I was terrified seeing people walk past with pushchairs as the path wasn't safe," said Cllr Crane.
"We're encouraging more people to walk these days instead of get into their cars but this path was virtually impossible to use.
"It was a dangerous pavement but is now accessible for all to use. We all know the health benefits of walking. We had the overgrown bit of the project carried out in March 2022 but this is the final stage.
"Wheelock Hall Farm Shop has become a tourist attraction. I have constantly fought for more funding for the repriotisation of footpaths.
"The next stage in Wheelock will be working on the Wheelock Speed Watch team to educate motorists who speed through the village."
Cllr Crane said when the first part of the project was carried out two years ago: "After raising this issue regularly since 2019, work was carried out on the stretch of pavement near to Wheelock Hall Farm.
"For too long, parents have struggled to walk their children along this stretch and wheelchairs have found it difficult, if not near impossible, to get along the narrow slither of pavement that hadn't been eaten up by the growth of grass.
"The next job is to get it and other pavements brought back up to the standard we should expect. We cannot ask people to walk more if the pavements aren't good enough for them to walk on.
A member of Sandbach Footpaths Group said previously: "I didn't feel comfortable using it because it was so overgrown and you had to walk close to the road and on-coming traffic.
"It's nice to walk to the farm shop from my home. This is such a wonderful piece of work for local residents."
And one local resident said: "This issue was raised in 2016, it was in a real state then. Great to see it finally being fixed as it's a well-used path."
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