For more than two years, I have been raising serious concerns about road safety on Minshull New Road, particularly around Leighton Academy and the routes used daily by children and parents walking to and from school. During that time, there have been repeated incidents involving vehicles leaving the carriageway and crossing the pavement, yet little meaningful action has been taken to address the risks.
Following the latest collision this week, in June 2026, I have written to the Chief Executive of Cheshire East Council to set out my concerns regarding both the ongoing safety issues and the lack of progress in delivering the improvements that were promised as part of the North West Crewe Package.
I am publishing my letter below so that residents can see the issues that have been raised and the action I am asking the council to take.
Dear Acting CEO,
I am writing to you as the councillor for Crewe St Barnabas Ward because I have reached the point where I feel I have exhausted every other route available to me regarding the ongoing road safety concerns on Minshull New Road.
When the North West Crewe Package was officially opened in July 2024, Councillor Goldsmith, then Chair of the Highways Committee and now Portfolio Holder for Highways and Transport, stated in his speech:
“This has been a great project on many levels… in addition to providing greatly improved access to existing housing developments. These works have also helped to create a safer environment for children coming to and from Leighton Academy – another positive aspect of this worthy project.”
The reality is that, at the point the scheme opened, nothing had been delivered on Minshull New Road to improve safety for the children, parents and residents who use this route every day. Nearly two years later, that remains the case.
Since the opening of the scheme, there have been further serious collisions on Minshull New Road.
In July 2024, the same month as the opening, a vehicle collided with the bridge over Leighton Brook, crossing the pavement and destroying part of the bridge parapet wall. This was not an isolated incident. The same thing happened again in March 2025.
In April 2025, two vehicles collided with the safety barriers directly outside Leighton Academy school gates, causing significant damage to infrastructure intended to protect children, parents and staff entering and leaving the school.
Now, in June 2026, another vehicle has crossed the pavement and crashed into a wall near the Rolls Avenue junction. Once again, an innocent pedestrian could easily have been seriously injured or killed.
This is also not the first collision at that location. A vehicle struck a wall nearby in March 2023 after leaving the carriageway and crossing the pavement.
Looking back further, there were similar incidents in July 2020 and December 2020 where vehicles crossed the pavement and destroyed railings, a lighting column and other roadside infrastructure.
That amounts to seven collisions in six years along a relatively short stretch of road. In every case, the vehicle left the carriageway and crossed the pavement used daily by children, parents and residents travelling to and from Leighton Academy and the nursery. The fact that no pedestrian has been seriously injured is down to luck rather than the effectiveness of any road safety measures.
The pavements closest to Leighton Academy are already narrow and regularly flood during wet weather. These are the pavements used daily by children and parents travelling to and from the school and nursery, stretching from the school entrance down towards the Rolls Avenue junction and in the opposite direction towards the junction with Flowers Lane. During periods of heavy rain, sections become flooded and pedestrians are often forced onto muddy verges immediately adjacent to moving traffic. Given the repeated history of vehicles leaving the carriageway and crossing the pavement on this stretch of road, this presents an entirely foreseeable risk to pedestrian safety.
Why am I raising this directly with you? Because no one in Cheshire East Highways appears to be listening.
I first raised these concerns in March 2024 through Member Enquiry 25071785 and directly with highways officers. Despite numerous follow-ups, little meaningful response was provided. I subsequently raised the matter through the Leader’s Office and repeatedly requested a meeting with highways officers, but this was not forthcoming.
I met with representatives from Leighton Academy in July and September 2024 to discuss the growing concerns around road safety on this route.
After significant delay, and following the cancellation of an earlier meeting, highways officers eventually met with myself and representatives from Leighton Academy in November 2025. At that meeting I presented collision data and a crash map to the Infrastructure Delivery Manager and asked what action would be taken to improve safety, particularly given that the measures originally expected as part of the North West Crewe Package had not materialised.
A traffic study was being undertaken at the time, although unfortunately this was during a period when roadworks were taking place on Minshull New Road. I requested a follow-up meeting once the study had concluded. Despite making that request several times afterwards, no follow-up meeting was arranged.
However, I would also question why we need further surveys to tell us what is already blindingly obvious to anyone familiar with the area. Minshull New Road continues to be heavily used as a rat run despite the delivery of the North West Crewe Package, which was intended to provide the primary route for traffic movements in this part of Crewe. Residents regularly witness vehicles travelling at excessive speed down the long, straight downhill section of Minshull New Road towards Leighton Brook and Leighton Academy.
The collision history itself tells a compelling story. Every collision I have referenced involved a vehicle travelling in the downhill direction. Every collision resulted in a vehicle leaving the carriageway and striking the same side of the road as the pavement used by pedestrians, parents and school children. Whether it is the bridge parapet, the school safety barriers, railings, lighting columns or boundary walls, the pattern is remarkably consistent.
At some point, Cheshire East Council must stop collecting data and start responding to what the evidence is already telling us. The repeated nature of these incidents suggests a clear road safety problem on this stretch of Minshull New Road. The question should no longer be whether there is an issue, but what action is going to be taken to address it.
The explanation subsequently offered for the lack of any safety scheme was that Minshull New Road is a bus route. I struggle to understand how that can justify the absence of meaningful intervention where there is a clear history of vehicles leaving the carriageway and mounting the pavement.
In March 2026, through Member Enquiry 35606311, I again requested a meeting. I was informed that the relevant officer was on annual leave and would contact me the following week to arrange this. I responded confirming that I wished to proceed, but I have still heard nothing.
Frankly, I find it unacceptable that it took from early 2024 until late 2025 simply to secure a meeting to discuss a matter involving repeated collisions outside a primary school. Even as a ward councillor, obtaining a response to emails can take months. At times it feels as though I would have a similar chance of receiving a response if I were emailing the moon.
What concerns me most is the apparent disregard for the seriousness of the issue and the lack of accountability for delivering the improvements that local residents were led to expect.
I cannot accept that a highways project costing more than £50 million has delivered no meaningful safety improvements for the established community living alongside Minshull New Road. At the same time, around 1,250 homes are being delivered as a result of the wider development and infrastructure package. The existing community has every right to expect that road safety concerns are addressed alongside this growth.
These improvements were presented as part of the wider scheme and planning process, yet local residents have been left disappointed. Cheshire East Council cannot continue to point to the success of the North West Crewe Package whilst ignoring the unresolved road safety issues that remain for the communities affected by it.
Seven collisions in six years, all involving vehicles crossing the pavement, should be setting alarm bells ringing. We should not wait until a child, parent or other pedestrian is killed or seriously injured before deciding that action is necessary.
I am therefore asking for your intervention to ensure that Cheshire East Council takes this matter seriously and moves forward with the development and implementation of a road safety scheme for Minshull New Road.
Specifically, I would welcome:
- A clear explanation of what safety measures were originally proposed for Minshull New Road and why they have not been delivered.
- A review of the collision history along this section of road and the council’s assessment of the associated risk to pedestrians.
- A commitment to develop and implement appropriate road safety improvements, together with a realistic timetable for doing so.
- Clarification as to who within the council is accountable for progressing this matter and responding to the concerns raised by residents, Leighton Academy and elected members.
At this stage, my concern is no longer simply the road safety issue itself. It is also the apparent failure of the council’s processes to respond to legitimate concerns raised by elected members, residents and a local school over a period of more than two years.
I would appreciate your assistance in ensuring this matter receives the attention it warrants before another collision results in a tragedy.
Yours sincerely,
Cllr James Pratt
Councillor for Crewe St Barnabas Ward
Residents can view and download the crash map report I have put together to help illustrate the pattern of collisions on Minshull New Road over recent years.
The map sets out the location of each recorded incident and shows how consistently vehicles have left the carriageway along this stretch, particularly in the area around Leighton Academy and the approach towards the Rolls Avenue and Flowers Lane junctions.
I have produced this to support a clearer understanding of the concerns I have been raising with Cheshire East Council and to provide transparency for local residents who use this route every day. It is important that the evidence is seen in full so the scale and nature of the issue is properly understood.
The report can be downloaded here:
If you have difficulty accessing it or would like a printed copy, please contact me and I will be happy to provide one.
If residents would like to raise their own concerns about Minshull New Road, they can contact Cheshire East Council directly at:
Please feel free to copy me into any correspondence or contact me directly to james.pratt@cheshireeast.gov.uk as well if you would like to share your experience or views. I am continuing to raise these issues on behalf of local residents and it is important that as many voices as possible are heard.
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