The Village Hall and PTA are selling Raffle Tickets for Utkinton Garden Fete (£5.00 a book of 5) for a huge wad of great prizes – only there till lunchtime.

… it would appear that the planters on the Utkinton War Memorial have gone ‘walkabout’.  Do you know anything about this? They were there yesterday evening and this morning the lady who tends them found that they were missing.

What kind of individual could do such a thing.  It isn’t the cost, although they will cost a fair bit to replace, but the idiocy and uncaring ‘so and so’ who removed them … well words fail me!

If you know where they are, please get in touch at utkintonpc@gmail.com or 07860 917446 – 

A couple of these will be arriving in the village – the first at Rose Farm Shop (courtesy of John Johnson and Family).  Please feel free to donate any change or crinkly notes – nothing is too small or too big, no donation will be refused.

Right now we are about 2/3rds of the way towards our target and the total will be updated  after the Garden Fete(but targets are there to be beaten).

Thanks to all who have donated thus far.

This from Highways Authority

M6 J16-19 smart motorway full carriageway closures

It will be necessary for us to close the M6 motorway between junction 16 and 19 to install new overhead gantries on both the northbound and southbound carriageway.

The motorway will be closing on the following consecutive nights:

Monday 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 June                         J19-18 southbound

Monday 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 July                            J19-18 southbound      

Monday 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 July                          J18-19 northbound         

Monday 23, 24, 25, 26. 27, 28 July                          J17-18 northbound         

Monday 30, 31 July, 1, 2, 3, 4 August                     J17-16 southbound        

Monday 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 August                             J16-17 northbound         

Monday 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 August                     J18-17 southbound  

Midweek closures will run from 10pm to 6am and Friday and Saturday night closures will run from 10pm to 8am.

CWaC have advised that the planned closure of John Street will take place on Wednesday 13th June and last for a maximum of two days. This is for white lining work.

They are going to check that the correct road closure dates & time that the road will be closed are shown on the signs.

A letter to affected householders will be issued tomorrow (12th June).

To view the TRO, please click on the link below.

TRO 3909 John Street Willington

If ever you were in doubt as to the service that local shops provide, then this article might go someway to assuaging those doubts.  Well done the team.

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Rural Post Offices are a vital lifeline to local communities #ProudToFarm

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Rural Post Offices are regarded as part of the fabric of community life; a much needed service to help residents go about their everyday life. With the ongoing closures of rural banks across the country, local businesses and dwellers have come to heavily rely on their local Post Office and their future is stronger than ever. In December last year, the Government announced the future of rural Post Offices would be safeguarded thanks to a £160 million fund to protect village branches from closure. Another £210m will be spent modernising about 11,600 branches across the country over the next three years, as the network appeared to be at its most stable in many years.

According to Citizens Advice, more than half of the UK’s Post Offices are located in rural areas, with customers using the service significantly more often than their urban counterparts, and the more rural the area, the more important its role. These statistics were even higher in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, with more than 70 per cent of Welsh Post Offices serving rural areas. There are no hard or fast rules as to how rural Post Offices operate within a local community and they can range from a fully functional outlet to a modest counter in a farm shop or mobile van touring around the community.

In Utkinton, Cheshire, Rose Farm Shop provides a Post Office alongside its farm shop, butchers and cafe, bridging the gap by offering a multi-faceted platform of services. Pig and beef farmer John Johnson opened the farm shop 21 years ago, after the people running the local village shop which housed the Post Office were looking to retire. John took over the village shop and Post Office before moving to the new site, but faced a raft of planning challenges after initially approaching the council.

Understanding the importance of the service, John’s determination and patience eventually paid dividends.

He says: “We had support from the local community and eventually received permission to open.”

Community is definitely the buzzword when it comes to the farm shop and Post Office and Stanley Downham, who was chairman of the parish council at the time, is now a loyal customer.

He says: “We had an awful job to persuade them the village needed a Post Office and that it was a viable proposition.

“We got the planning committee out to have a look at the site and put a lot of pressure on. Today, the Post Office is increasingly vital and a facility for the whole community, especially with more banks closing.”

Temporary road closure

Notice is hereby given pursuant to the provisions of Section 14 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 the effect of which will be to prohibit traffic on the following lengths of roads in Tarporley to enable Surface Dressing works to be carried out by Cheshire West and Chester Council.

• Tarporley Road

Nothing in the Order shall prevent driving upon the said lengths of road of any vehicle which is being used for the conveyance of persons goods or merchandise to or from any premises situate on or adjacent to the lengths of road or in connection with agriculture building construction works of repair and the like or use in an emergency of vehicles for fire brigade ambulance or police purposes. A through route will not always be available and any vehicles not requiring access to properties on the length of road should use alternative routes.

The closure will come into force on 7 June 2018 and will be in force for a maximum of five days. It is anticipated that the work will last for approximately one day.

• Diversion route is via A54, Bypass Road, A51 Tarporley Road, Duddon Road

Kieran Collins (Ref TRO 1917)
Place Operations
Highways Office
Guilden Sutton Lane
Guilden Sutton
Chester
Cheshire
CH3 7EX
Telephone: 0300 123 7036
Email: engch@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk

Temporary road closure

Notice is hereby given pursuant to the provisions of Section 14 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 the effect of which will be to prohibit traffic on the following lengths of roads in Willington to enable Surface Dressing works to be carried out by Cheshire West and Chester Council.

• John Street

Nothing in the Order shall prevent driving upon the said lengths of road of any vehicle which is being used for the conveyance of persons goods or merchandise to or from any premises situate on or adjacent to the lengths of road or in connection with agriculture building construction works of repair and the like or use in an emergency of vehicles for fire brigade ambulance or police purposes. A through route will not always be available and any vehicles not requiring access to properties on the length of road should use alternative routes.

The closure will come into force on 5 June 2018 and will be in force for a maximum of five days. It is anticipated that the work will last for approximately one day.

• Diversion route is via Utkinton Road, Rode Street, A51, Willington Lane

Kieran Collins (Ref TRO 3767)
Place Operations
Highways Office
Guilden Sutton Lane
Guilden Sutton
Chester
Cheshire
CH3 7EX
Telephone: 0300 123 7036
Email: engch@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk