A message from John Dwyer, Police Crime Commissioner:

‘I made sure that preventing and tackling ASB is in Cheshire’s Police and Crime Plan because it is one of the main issues raised with me and the police. While some incidents of ASB on their own can be seen as small and ‘low level’, we know all too well that sustained and persistent ASB can make residents feel unsafe, and perpetrators can often go on to commit greater crimes.

The next round of the Safer Streets Fund will focus on ASB and I want to use any additional money we receive to support a police project to tackle it in each of Cheshire’s four Local Authority areas.

To inform these projects I will be using ASB statistics collated by the Constabulary, but it’s also important to get feedback directly from residents about how they perceive ASB in their community and how extra funding could help.

I have set up a short survey which can be taken here: www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/CheshireASB – Residents can have their say up until Midday on Monday 7 August.’ (The close date was extended from 4th August on 1st August)

Cheshire West and Chester Council has launched another funding round on the Cheshire West Crowd, providing an opportunity for community projects to bring their ideas to life. The Cheshire West Crowd, run by the Council in partnership with Spacehive, empowers everyone to put forward community-led projects and attract funding to make the borough more vibrant, resilient and connected. Since the Cheshire West Crowd first launched, 95 community projects have collectively raised nearly £1.6 million from almost 5,000 backers, including the Council. Regular information sessions will be delivered by the Council’s Communities team, providing an opportunity for you to have an informal chat about any ideas you have and get advice to take your crowdfunding campaign forward.  Details below: Chester Chester Upton Library, Wealstone Lane, Upton, Chester, CH2 1HB – Wednesday 2 August, 10.30am to 11.30am Upton Library, Wealstone Lane, Upton, Chester, CH2 1HB – Wednesday 16 August, 11.30am to 1pm   Great Boughton Library, Green Lane, Vicars Cross, Chester, CH3 5LB – Thursday 7 September, 2pm to 3pm Great Boughton Library, Green Lane, Vicars Cross, Chester, CH3 5LB – Thursday 14 September, 5.30pm to 7pm Ellesmere Port Ellesmere Port Let’s Talk Market Stall, Ellesmere Port Market – Thursday 27 July, 10am to 12noon Ellesmere Port Library,Civic Way, Ellesmere Port, CH65 0BG – Thursday 10 August, 10am to noon Little Sutton Library,Chester Road, Little Sutton, Ellesmere Port, CH66 1QQ– Thursday 17 August, 11am to 1pm Let’s Talk Market Stall, Ellesmere Port Market – Thursday 7 September, 10am to 12noon Ellesmere Port Library, Civic Way, Ellesmere Port, CH65 0BG – Thursday 21 September, 10am to noon Northwich and Winsford Northwich and Winsford Winsford Lifestyle Centre,The Drumber, Winsford CW7 1AD – Thursday 10 August, 11am to noon Wharton Library, Willow Square, Wharton, Winsford, CW7 3HP – Thursday 17 August, 11am to noon Northwich Library, London Road, Northwich, CW9 8AB – Thursday 17 August, 2pm to 4pm Winnington Community Hub, 41 Walker Road, Northwich, CW8 4UD– Thursday 24 August, 2pm to 4pm New Images Chatter Box Café, Nixon Drive, Winsford, CW7 2HG – Tuesday 5 September, 11am to noon Rural Rural Neston Library, Parkgate Road, Town Centre, Neston, CH64 9XE – Tuesday 1 August, 10.30am to noon Tattenhall Library, Park Primary School Tattenhall, Chester, CH3 9AH – Tuesday 1 August, 2pm to 4pm Elton Community Centre Café, School Lane, Elton, CH2 4PU – Wednesday 2 August, 11.30am to 1pm Helsby Library, Lower Robin Hood Lane, Frodsham, WA6 0BW – Tuesday 15 August, 4.30pm to 6.30pm Tattenhall Library, Park Primary School Tattenhall, Chester, CH3 9AH – Thursday 7 September, 10.30am to 12.30pm Frodsham Library, Princeway, Frodsham, WA6 6RX – Wednesday 13 September, 4pm to 6pm You can simply turn up to any of these community drop-in sessions to access support with the Cheshire West Crowd.  If you need to contact any of the Communities teams beforehand, please use the following email contact details. Chester – chesterlocality@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk Ellesmere Port – ellesmereportlocality@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk Northwich and Winsford – northwichwinsfordlocality@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk Rural – rurallocality@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk The deadline to submit projects and pitch for Council funding on the Cheshire West Crowd is Wednesday 27 September 2023, with projects needing to hit their crowdfunding target during December 2023. •            Create your own project For more information about the Cheshire West Crowd and how you could get involved, visit: spacehive.com/movement/cwc

The extension will give passengers additional time to respond to the consultation.

As before, further information on the proposals is available at Proposed changes to ticket offices | LNR | London Northwestern Railway and Proposed changes to ticket offices | West Midlands Railway.

To comment on proposed changes to ticket offices at stations on the network, customers can contact Transport Focus, the independent transport user watchdog, by Friday 1 September 2023 at TicketOffice.WMT@transportfocus.org.uk or Freepost: RTEH-XAGE-BYKZ, Transport Focus, PO Box 5594, Southend on Sea, SS1 9PZ. For more information about how to have your say visit transportfocus.org.uk.

If you have already commented on the proposals, your response will still be valid and there is no need to resubmit it.

A new itravel on-demand rural bus service will start in your area on Monday, 31 July 2023.

This £1.075m, three-year pilot service has been funded by the Department for Transport’s Rural Mobility Fund and commissioned Cheshire West and Chester’s Transport team to improve connectivity and reduce isolation in rural areas of the borough.

This new scheme will cover a wide area including Helsby, Frodsham, Delamere and Acton Bridge as well as other villages, where no commercial services are available.

• The bus service can be booked using a mobile phone app, or phone call, which allows a resident, or group of residents, to request a bus for a specific journey. 

• The service is not tied to a fixed route, allowing for quick and efficient shared trips without lengthy detours or fixed schedules, however it will link to train stations to further enhance connectivity for these areas.

• There will be an introductory single £2 flat fare to mirror the Government’s national scheme.  People aged 19 and under can travel half fare.

• Two 16-seater ‘mini’ buses with eye-catching livery will be available between 7am and 7pm, Monday to Friday, with low-floor access.

Bookings can now be taken. More information on how to book and the areas covered can be found on the Council’s website: itravel On Demand – Connecting People and Places | Cheshire West and Chester Council

Cheshire West and Chester Council’s Cabinet endorsed the borough’s local Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Strategy at today’s (11 July) meeting.

The Council has developed a draft Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Strategy (EVCI) in response to the Climate Emergency declaration and Air Quality Management Plan.

The EVCI Strategy covers the Council’s approach to supporting the delivery of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, including for public use, for Council fleet and at Council workplaces.

The Strategy sets out several ambitious targets for the roll-out of electric vehicle charging infrastructure, including a target to be a regional leader in terms of charge points per 100,000 population by 2025, and a national leader by 2030. The Council is on track to achieving the 2025 target, maintaining this position will require a significant increase in charge point provision.

The strategy also supports the Council’s application to the Office of Zero Emission Vehicle’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund. The LEVI fund aims to deliver a step-change in the deployment of local on-street charging infrastructure. The Council has been assigned a provisional allocation of £2,049,000 from this fund, and an expression of interest was submitted in May 2023. If successful, a full business case will be submitted by November 2023. The funding would be awarded 2023/24. The funding will allow the council to leverage significant private sector investment to facilitate rapid expansion of the borough’s public charging infrastructure network.

A six-week public consultation on the draft version took place between 1 February and 15March 2023. Responses showed a high degree of support for the policies set out in the strategy, both from those who already drive electric vehicles and those who do not.

Councillor Karen Shore, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Transport said: “There were over 200 responses to the consultation earlier this year. 70 per cent of respondents said they agreed with the aims of this strategy. Most respondents (53.9 per cent) considered that the Electric

Vehicle Charging Infrastructure will have a positive impact upon them.

“Our consultation showed that the ability to charge at home or away from home were the two most important factors to those considering whether to buy an electric vehicle and at present most respondents did not consider our existing charging infrastructure to be sufficient to meet existing demand.

Welcome to my latest newsletter for residents of Cheshire.

Since my last update, there has been plenty of activity from my office (the OPCC) and the Constabulary to support victims and prevent and tackle crime across the county. The OPCC has launched new and better ways of communicating with residents and secured even more funding to protect victims of Domestic Abuse. Meanwhile the Constabulary has seen progress made in key areas of the Police and Crime Plan, which led to my recent decision to extend the contract of Chief Constable Mark Roberts.

Making Cheshire even safer for all (sendibm1.com)