Hello fellow residents! I’m James Pratt, your local councillor for Crewe St Barnabas. I live right here in the heart of our St Barnabas community, in the West End of Crewe.
I’m proud to represent our area on both Cheshire East Council and Crewe Town Council, working to make sure your voice is heard and local priorities are delivered across Crewe & Nantwich.
From Minshull New Road, to Underwood Lane, West Street to Wheelman Road, Badger Avenue, Frank Webb, Rolls Avenue, Chassagne Square, Kettell to McNeill Avenue and all roads and communities in between – we are all Crewe St Barnabas.
I’m your local councillor – and a fellow resident of our community. I’m working hard to tackle the everyday issues that matter, including potholes, litter, fly-tipping, parking problems, street lighting and anti-social behaviour.
If there’s something you’d like me to look into, please get in touch – or you can report issues online.
Read my latest news updates or check my recent facebook posts to find out what I’m up to!
Please follow and share my Facebook and Instagram and TikTok accounts, or sign up for my Email Newsletter so I can keep you up to date on local issues.
You can also take a look at my video looking back at some of our achievements in 2024!
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I wrote to every household in the area and delivered residents surveys to to find what issues you’d like to see tackled in our community. You can still complete this survey online if you have not already. |
If you would like to contact me about any local issue please do get in touch.
Thank you for your support!
Here’s what I’ve been up to recently…
Councillor James Pratt - Crewe, St Barnabas
WORKING TOGETHER - MAKING A REAL DIFFERENCE 🌿
A big thank you to the fantastic local volunteers in St Barnabas who’ve been out litter picking this week and helping keep our area looking its best. You know who you are - and your effort genuinely makes a difference 😊
I’ve also been out most days, and you may have noticed the green bags appearing around our streets, green spaces, and our local park - all down to people giving a bit of their time to make a positive difference. And it really shows
We haven’t covered everywhere yet, which is why it would be great to get even more people involved. Every bag collected makes a difference, and together we can go even further.
If you’d like to join in, just drop me a message or comment. Whether it’s helping out in your street, looking after our local park, or getting the kids involved in something positive, I can get you set up with bags and equipment.
We can all do something, however small, and if we each make a little effort it really does add up to a big difference. Let’s keep building on this and take pride in St Barnabas 👍
Councillor James Pratt - Crewe, St Barnabas
LITTER BINS IN OUR AREA – NEEDING ATTENTION!
I frequently walk around our area doing my “ward walks” to spot issues, and one thing I’ve noticed is that the litter bins around McNeill Avenue and Darlington Avenue are almost always full. I log a request for them to be emptied, but next time I walk round, I see they are full again.
I’ve raised this officially with Cheshire East to check whether these bins are actually being emptied – and if they are, I’ve asked if they can be emptied more regularly. These areas suffer from a lot of littering, which obviously isn’t helped if bins are too full to use or if rubbish blows onto the street.
Let’s see what happens!
Councillor James Pratt - Crewe, St Barnabas
A FRESH LICK OF PAINT IN OUR PARK! 🎨
Big thanks to our Crewe Town Council Park Ranger who’s been busy recently repainting the benches, picnic tables and some of the playground equipment in Leighton Brook Park on Frank Webb Avenue. What a lovely job he's done!
It looks much smarter and ready for spring and summer! Here’s some pics of the repainted benches – shiny shiny! ✨
Councillor James Pratt - Crewe, St Barnabas
🚧 GREAT NEWS EVERYONE-MORE DELAYS ON BADGER AVENUE 🚧
Get ready for even more disruption at the Badger Avenue/Underwood Lane junction.
After almost three years of pushing for actual safety improvements at the Badger Avenue/Frank Webb Avenue junction - including multiple meetings and even standing on site multiple times with highways road safety officers - the plans I worked to get drawn up (yes, including a mini roundabout to make things safer for drivers, parents, and children heading to Underwood West Academy) were later scrapped by highways.
I was then encouraged to request a pedestrian crossing instead... which, surprise surprise, was later rejected too.
But don’t worry - highways have come up with a solution!!
They’re going to replace perfectly working traffic signal equipment on the crossing at the Badger Avenue/Underwood Lane junction instead. 🤦♂️ Wonderful !!
So brace yourselves for up to 12 days of disruption, temporary traffic lights, and delays while this happens. Quite how it takes nearly two weeks to replace something that isn’t broken is anyone’s guess.
Progress, apparently.
Councillor James Pratt - Crewe, St Barnabas
Great result Crewe Police. It was only the other day we were discussing this issue. Excellent prompt action, thank you! 👍
Councillor James Pratt - Crewe, St Barnabas
Huge thanks to Cheryl for her continued efforts towards our goal of a litter free St Barnabas.
If you'd like to get involved too,I can get you set up with a kit of equipment. However much you can do it all makes a difference.
Please message me if you would like to help too.
Thank you again Cheryl 😊
Councillor James Pratt - Crewe, St Barnabas
BADGER AVENUE PAVEMENT PROBLEMS
Residents regularly contact me about the condition of the pavements on Badger Avenue, particularly the persistent puddles and uneven paving slabs. I have raised these concerns with Highways on a number of occasions. While some limited repairs have been carried out in specific problem spots, the wider area has only been placed on a programme of works to be considered.
The dropped crossing at the junction with Bowen Cooke is a clear example. I have once again asked Highways to inspect this location. It does not just flood during rainfall, the water remains there for several days afterwards.
There are also missing dropped crossings further up Badger Avenue by North View, which make it difficult for those less mobile and with children to use this pavement. I've again requested this be reviewed after my last request was refused!
I will continue to press for action. If issues are not reported and followed up, they are far less likely to be addressed. Let's keep going!
Councillor James Pratt - Crewe, St Barnabas
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY - GREAT FINDS IN CREWE!
Cllr Toni Mortimer and I popped into town after our meeting this morning, and it was brilliant to pick up a bargain at the St Paul's Centre store on Victoria Street (followed by some lovely chips from Vernon's Fish Bar!)
Every pound spent in the St Paul's shop goes straight back into supporting our local community, so you can shop and make a difference at the same time.
There are so many different items to discover in the shop, so come along and see what’s in the Victoria street store.
You may already know about the popular Friday sales at St Paul’s on Hightown (in the old church). The great news is that the sales floor is now also open on Tuesdays from midday to 4pm, meaning there will be a second big sale every single week.
Pop in, grab a bargain, and support a great local cause! ❤️
Follow St Paul's Centre on facebook for further updates.