ALLEY GATES

4.36.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 10th Aug 2009

In the past few years, a frequent question to councillors has been, "When are we going to get our alley gates?". The programme of installing gates in Crewe South Ward is almost complete but there have been delays in some areas.

Getting agreement Before any gate is installed, agreement is needed from all the people affected by it. This delayed installation of some gates, because either property owners were hard to contact, or plans had to be reworked to meet objections. Some objections are still not fully resolved, but most gates were installed without problems. The widespread agreement was a surprise to councillors and council officers!

Practical difficulties

All the alley gates in Crewe South Ward look the same but there are lots of ifferences in the sites for them. There are practical difficulties to be overcome in some places. If the gates make the alley narrower, this can be a problem, particularly if the alley is used by bin lorries. Also it is normally not possible to install a gate across an alley if this is the only entrance to a property. This has meant that some of the gates originally proposed have not been installed. Gating orders Most of the alleys where gates have been installed are not maintained by the Council. Some of them are - so that they are regarded as "highways" - and others are recognised as public rights of way. For these the legal process of obtaining a "gating order" is necessary. All residents - not just those whose homes are affected - have the right to object to a gating order. The long legal process is still not complete in some areas.