Traffic at The Ice Cream Farm

We know that some of you continue to raise concerns regarding the traffic flow and congestion both at and adjacent to 'The Ice Cream Farm' on Newton Lane and at the nearby crossroads.

Please be assured that we are continuing to work very closely with a variety of stakeholders i.e. Highways, Planners and the Police to identify ways in which we can improve the situation. Everyone has been extremely understanding and helpful. The winter and spring weather has been absolutely unprecedented – not only does the ground remain very wet with huge amounts of surface water everywhere, but Easter this year was very early and that ground has had little time to dry out. Regrettably, therefore, we have been completely unable to let cars use the 'overflow' field; this has been the principal cause of the current problems. Moreover, whilst legally we cannot stop people parking on the public highway, we are trying our very best to discourage it.

In addition, I have also requested a Police presence at considerable personal cost but I am advised that the Police simply don't have the manpower. Similarly, I have personally written to all residents on Newton Lane and to our Parish Council. I will also be consulting with a CSAS Accredited traffic management company to look at potential solutions. I share your frustrations and concerns but hope that readers of this article on Tattenhall Online will now fully appreciate the dilemmas that we have faced.

One of our PCSOs has been liaising closely with us and she confirms that she is more than happy with what our management team are doing to help alleviate the situation.

For your information, we have:

• coned the road in both directions for some distance outside the entrance gates to prevent people parking on the grass verges which may cause an obstruction to others.
• placed signs at the end of the road to advise people not to come down the lane due to high numbers of visitors/vehicles and, in an attempt to improve the situation and manage numbers, we have also been developing a 'pre-book' system online.
• posted prominent 'pop up' notices on the website and social media.
• placed messages on our website requesting that individuals reconsider busy periods and that they do not park on the road or near neighbouring properties.
• made progress in trying to complete an additional parking area (bad weather and all).
• earmarked some of our own staff to assist with parking.

Our PCSO has also advised that she will be in the area when possible and, if appropriate, take action against anyone parking illegally.

We are still going to have days as all attractions do, when different factors contribute to huge numbers of individuals getting in their cars for a day out. We know that other attractions in the region experience the same problems. In fact both Chester Zoo and Tatton Park have recently put out similar notices to urge people to choose alternative days to visit and we know that other National Trust properties had no parking spaces left at their venues during the Easter weekend.

We hope that this goes some way to explaining the root causes of the current problems. We apologise for any disruption that has been caused and we thank you for your continuing patience.