Residents and visitors in Cheshire West and Chester can now save money and “Get Around for £2”, following the launch of a Government scheme to cap fares for single bus journeys.
From 1 January to 31 March 2023, over 130 bus operators will charge no more than £2 for their single tickets across over 4,600 routes nationally, helping families, commuters and other passengers save money.
The scheme hopes to give bus travel a boost in the borough, encouraging more people to discover how easy and stress-free travelling by bus is.
Cheshire West and Chester Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Strategic Transport, Councillor Karen Shore said: “The initiative encourages people to get back on the bus to help the industry continue its recovery from the pandemic. It will also reduce CO2 emissions and tackle congestion by taking an estimated two million cars off the road nationally.
“If you’ve never used buses before, why not give it a go and see if bus travel could work for you – this is ideal opportunity to hop on board.
“Buses are a key part of our vision for clean, efficient and modern transport network in the borough, that is affordable for everyone. This is a great way to start the new year and we will continue to work with our bus operators, through our Enhanced Partnership, to ensure passengers can access reliable and affordable bus services once the scheme ends in March.”
The scheme is on the Government’s Help for Households website, as the new cap can deliver real savings for those most affected by the rising cost of living.
Bus operators not taking part in the scheme in Cheshire West and Chester include: Aintree Coachline on routes 40, 41 and 272 and M&H Coaches on their route X1.
Councillor Shore added: “Don’t forget, visitors to Chester city centre are able to use our excellent Park & Ride service, although it’s not part of this scheme, the fare is just £2 for a return journey, so you can save money to travel quick and easy into the City.”
A new website launches today giving access to live air quality data from across the borough and from local authorities across the country.
A key element of Cheshire West and Chester Council’s Low Emission Strategy (LES) included a commitment to improve the standard of air quality data provided to residents and to introduce a mobile-based platform to give residents easy and convenient access to the data.
From 9 January, the website can be accessed via a link on the Council’s website or viewed at: https://cheshirewest-air.info
The website provides residents with improved access to near real-time data from the Council’s monitoring stations. The data also feeds through to the UK Air Quality website which hosts live air quality data from local authorities across the country: https://ukairquality.net .
Gases being monitored vary by location and by monitor type. Borough wide, nitrogen dioxide is monitored using diffusion tubes. There are three traffic-related Air Quality Management Areas, in Frodsham, Ellesmere Port and Chester respectively, all with a focus on nitrogen dioxide.
There is also an industrial emissions Air Quality Management Area, located in Thornton le Moors with the focus on sulphur dioxide. The Council also monitors particulate matter (PM10) emissions from both industrial and transport sources to ensure compliance with the national standards.
Councillor Karen Shore, Cabinet Member for Environment, Communities and Strategic Transport said: “The new website allows the air quality data to be easily checked at all times including historic data. The improved functionality allows different parameters to be selected based on location, timeframe and pollutants and the data can be exported if needed.
“The new website is being launched at the same time we are planning to revoke the Air Quality Management Area in Ellesmere Port that was declared in May 2005 for transport related levels of nitrogen dioxide.
“Over the past five years, monitoring has demonstrated a trend of reducing levels. The levels now comply with the national standard and are likely to continue to improve which will allow us to revoke the order. This reduction in levels is the result of the Air Quality Action Plan vehicle queue reduction measures combined with improved vehicle emission standards.”
Urgent safety alert issued for baby self-feeding products
Cheshire West and Chester Council wants to make residents aware of an urgent warning against the use of baby self-feeding products.
The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) has issued a Product Safety Alert for baby self-feeding products and has asked local authority trading standards officers to take action to remove them from the market.
The products may not be available to buy in mainstream retailers in the UK, but there are a number of online retailers selling these products that ship to the UK, as well as listings on online marketplaces and some Instagram-based sellers
Baby self-feeding products are designed to enable babies to bottle feed with little or no assistance from a caregiver holding the bottle and controlling the feed. However, this creates risk of serious harm, or even death from choking or aspiration pneumonia.
The warning follows on from a previous safety alert regarding self-feeding pillows and prop feeders last month and now applies to all baby self-feeding products.
The Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Strategic Transport, Councillor Karen Shore said: “The most common reason for babies to choke on feed is because the liquid is being dispensed faster than the baby can swallow.
“Babies do not have the ability to control the flow of a bottle feed, or to know when to stop feeding, or to act to raise the alarm if something is going wrong.
“If you have purchased one of these products, please stop using it immediately and dispose of it safely.”
Local authority trading standards teams will take action against businesses that sell baby self-feeding products as they do not comply with the safety requirements set down in the General Product Safety Regulations, 2005.
Kerbside waste and recycling collections will take place on the usual days this Christmas season for most residents in Cheshire and Chester.
Residents who usually expect a collection on Monday 26 December should put their bins out two days earlier by 7am on Saturday 24 December as there are no collections on Boxing Day.
Calendars for 2023 are being delivered via Royal Mail and are taking longer than usual.
Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) are closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.
Real Christmas trees can be taken for reuse to the following sites any time in January 2023:
Hooton Golf Club Chester Road, Hooton, Ellesmere Port, CH66 1QF; Whitby Park Stanney Lance Ellesmere Port, CH65 9 AQ; Stanney Fields Park Hinderton Road, Neston, CH64 9PE; Westminster Park Hough Green, Chester, CH4 8JW; Marbury Park, Marbury Lane, CW9 6AP; Castle Park Fountain Lane, Frodsham, WA6 6SA; Knights Grange Sports Complex Winsford, CW7 2PT.
Signage will advise where to place the trees, which will be chipped and used as mulch on existing shrub-beds in the borough by the Council’s StreetCare Service.
Decorations and lights should be removed from the trees. Just Helping is also raising money for local hospices by collecting and recycling real trees. To find the nearest hospice to arrange a collection: Register Tree (just-helping.org.uk)
The Council’s Customer Service Centre will be closed from 7pm on 23 December 2022, reopening on 28 December 2022. It will also be closed on 2 January 2023, reopening on 3 January 2023.
Garden waste collections ended on 5 December and will resume on 27 February 2023. Subscriptions can now be made for 2023 garden waste collections. To subscribe: cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/gardenwastecollection
The Waste Management service continues to work closely with its partners to improve service quality and minimise the disruption to our residents as much as possible. Collections over the festive period can be challenging because of several factors.
This year there will only be one collection day change to the normal recycling and waste collection service. If you receive a collection of waste or recycling on a Monday, please be aware that collections on Monday, 26 December 2022 are moving to Saturday, 24 December 2022. All other collection dates remain the same.
Garden Waste collections
As you will be aware from previous member briefs this year garden waste collections will be suspended for 12 weeks commencing Monday 5 December 2022 and resuming on Monday 27 February 2023. Subscriptions can now be made for 2023 garden waste collections.
Real Christmas trees
Residents will still be able to dispose of their real Christmas trees using the following below methods:
Christmas trees can be taken for reuse to the following sites any time during January 2023:
Hooton Golf Club Chester Road, Hooton, Ellesmere Port, CH66 1QF
Whitby Park Stanney Lance Ellesmere Port, CH65 9 AQ
Stanney Fields Park Hinderton Road, Neston, CH64 9PE
Westminster Park Hough Green, Chester, CH4 8JW
Marbury Park, Marbury Lane, CW9 6AP
Castle Park Fountain Lane, Frodsham, WA6 6SA
Knights Grange Sports Complex Winsford, CW7 2PT
Signage will be at all sites to advise where to place the Christmas trees, which will be chipped and used as mulch on existing shrub-beds throughout the borough by the Council’s StreetCare Service. The trees will need to be delivered with no decorations or lights on them.
Charity collections
Just Helping raise money for local hospices by collecting and recycling real trees. Residents can use the link below to find their nearest hospice to arrange a collection.
Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) via the list of sites below.
Recycling collections
Glitter free Christmas cards, envelopes and non-metallic wrapping paper can all be recycled in the blue lidded recycling bin or green box. Cardboard boxes should be flattened to fit inside with any plastic and polystyrene removed. Any extra recycling, including food waste, can be placed out for collection next to recycling containers in suitable, clearly labelled containers, such as a carrier bag or a plastic storage box. These will be returned after emptying. Larger boxes can either be ripped up into smaller pieces and placed into the blue lidded bin or green recycling box or taken to a local HWRC.
The Council’s Customer Service Centre will be closed from 7pm on Friday, 23 December 2022, reopening on Wednesday, 28 December 2022. It will also be closed on Monday, 2 January 2023, reopening on Tuesday 3 January 2023. Any service issues can be reported on the Council’s online portal during this period.
Adverse weather
Snow and ice over the festive period can make collections difficult. While the majority of major roads often remain accessible, road and footway conditions on minor roads, housing estates and in rural areas can often become poor, making it difficult for large HGV collection vehicles and their crews to carry out work safely.
Although every effort will always be made to access properties on their scheduled collection day, the safety of those collecting and the wider public is always the most important thing. If adverse weather has an impact on collections, householders will be told to:
continue to place wheel bins, boxes and bags out for collection on the scheduled day
leave any uncollected containers out where a road, street or property is not collected on its scheduled collection day as every effort will then be made to return and collect these at the earliest opportunity
look out on social media and the Council website for any updates.
Cheshire West and Chester Council is reviewing the boroughs Playing Pitch Strategy and pitch provision.
The review will consider all outdoor sport facilities, including those for football, rugby, cricket, hockey and artificial pitch provision (3G’s), and will provide up to date information on existing and future needs in terms of quality, quantity and location.
The review is being carried out by the Council and partners from key national governing bodies for sport including Sport England, Active Cheshire, and Brio Leisure.
The review aims to capture the views of residents, clubs and any other individuals or organisations using a questionnaire.
Councillor Louise Gittins, Leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council said: “We would like to hear your views on the draft Strategy over the next 12 weeks. If you have an interest in pitch provision, please complete the questionnaire. This review will ensure all the information we hold is up to date and will be used for future planning and investment in sport and recreation facilities across the borough.”
The 2021 strategy identifies a total of 368 football pitches across 180 sites in the borough, of these, 287 are available, at some level, for community use. 47 pitches are managed by the Council, 16 by parish/town councils, 131 by schools, colleges, universities and 45 by clubs. The remaining pitches are privately or commercially managed.
A total of 816 teams were identified as playing within the borough, consisting of 140 men’s teams, nine women’s teams, 292 youth boys’ teams, 74 youth girls’ teams and 301 mini soccer teams (49 of which are girls’ teams).
There are 28 grass cricket squares identified in the borough, of which 26 are available for community use. Plus 11 full size hockey suitable artificial grass pitches in the borough, ten of which are available to the community, as well as 14 smaller size pitches. There are also pitches that have been used for American Football, Gaelic football, lacrosse and polo.
