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!
| 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…
HELP ME HELP YOU - HOW TO RAISE AN ISSUE TO ME
Thank you to all my fellow residents who have been raising issues and asking for my help. It’s really encouraging to see so many people keen to see improvements in our area and wanting things fixed.
Whilst social media is great for staying in touch as an informal social platform, it’s difficult to keep track of Facebook tags and mentions across different pages where people are requesting help, especially when many of these posts are published anonymously. It’s also very easy for me to miss posts when they’re sometimes being published every few minutes.
To make sure I can respond properly, please contact me directly either by email at james.pratt@cheshireeast.gov.uk
(please include your name and address) or via my contact form:
📩 www.crewestbarnabas.org.uk/contact-form
For many issues, you can also report directly online without waiting for my response. Have a look here:
📲 www.crewestbarnabas.org.uk/report
This way I can make sure your enquiry is logged and I can respond as quickly as possible. Thank you for helping me keep on top of things!
🚧 MINSHULL NEW ROAD - REPAIRS STARTING THIS WEEK 🚧
Good news for fellow residents and road users - initial repairs on Minshull New Road have now been prioritised following my campaign where I’ve been raising the condition of this road for some time.
Work is due to start THIS WEDNESDAY 18th, currently planned to take place over two days between 9.30am and 3.30pm.
Many of you will know from my previous posts that Minshull New Road is one of the worst roads in St Barnabas ward, and I’ve been pushing for action to get improvements here. While I feel the road still needs full resurfacing, I’m pleased to see my efforts starting to make a difference, with these improvements now prioritised. It is a step in the right direction!
👉 How you can help
If you live on this section of Minshull New Road, highways have asked for the road to be clear of parked cars between 9.30am and 3.30pm while the work takes place.
They will make every effort to allow access to properties and businesses, but due to the nature of the works there may unfortunately be some short delays or inconvenience.
Thank you to everyone who has raised this issue with me and helped keep the pressure on. 👍
TODAY’S LITTER PICK - A BIG THANK YOU
A huge thank you to everyone who turned out in the spring sunshine this morning for today’s community litter pick which started at Leighton Brook Park.
It was wonderful to see so many members of our community including the regulars, and many new faces, as well as fellow members from Crewe Clean Team and families from Wilson House Scouts. It was also lovely to see more young people enjoying getting involved. Thank you all so much for your support.
There was a great turnout and over 20 bags of litter were collected from around the park and surrounding streets.
It was wonderful to have such great support from our community. Everyone should be really proud of what we achieved working together this morning. 🌞🧹🌿
📷 More photos in the link in the comments!
☀️ REMINDER! ST BARNABAS LITTER PICK - STARTING SOON ☀️
The sun is out and we are ready to go! Just a quick reminder that our St Barnabas Community Litter Pick is today at 10am.
📍 Meet by the playground in Leighton Brook Park, Frank Webb Avenue (CW1 3NE).
We will spread out across the park (and nearby streets for those that wish) to help keep St Barnabas clean and welcoming. Even if you can only spare a short time, every bit of help makes a difference.
👨👩👧 Families are very welcome
🧤 All equipment and bags provided
🚶 Pick on your own or join a group for a wander
If you are free this morning, come along and help give our community a quick spring clean in the sunshine.
MINSHULL NEW ROAD POTHOLE PATROL CONTINUES!
Whilst this page is at risk of becoming an update solely on Minshull New Road (there are many other important things I'm working on for our area) I wanted to share another update. It's pretty much the same if I'm honest!
I won't repeat everything (you can scroll back and read previous posts) but earlier this week I raised concerns both to the head of highways and local senior highways officer (yet again) about the lack of proper action here. Action I've been calling on not just this winter but since 2023.
I walked down again yesterday, and noted that several previously reported potholes have been patched - but many haven't and there are some whoppers that haven't had any attention. I walked the entire length and reported all that meet the councils criteria for repairs. This is something I've been doing pretty much every week.
So, let's await the response from Highways from my latest correspondence.
It goes back 3 years calling for proper repairs to this road. Yes - THREE YEARS, whilst the road has just got worse and worse and worse due to inaction by CE Highways.
If you spot a pothole, I've probably already logged it if its in St Barnabas, but if not (or if you are from outside this ward) then report it online or call 0300 123 5020
www.crewestbarnabas.org.uk/report-an-issue/
It MIGHT get fixed, if you are lucky. If not - keep trying!! It's what I do!
PSCO JEN JOLLEY 23641 - THANK YOU AND FAREWELL
This week, after five years of dedicated service, PCSO Jen Jolley 23641 will sadly be leaving Crewe Police. Jen has been our local PCSO for St Barnabas ward and I have had the pleasure of knowing and often working alongside her for several years. I want to take a moment to thank Jen for the commitment, care and energy she has given to our community during that time.
Many residents across our area will know Jen. Whether it was simply saying hello in the street, attending one of our community surgeries, supporting residents as part of her day to day neighbourhood policing, or being the face behind the Trucam helping keep our roads safe, she has always been approachable, friendly and willing to help.
Jen has also been a familiar and positive presence for many of our young people. I have seen first hand her dedication while working together in my councillor role, including joint visits to our local primary schools such as Underwood West Academy and Leighton Academy where she supported projects and spent time engaging with pupils.
She has also been incredibly supportive of our local charities and community organisations, regularly dropping in to support holiday activities & food sessions and street sports run by The Wishing Well, as well as many other organisations across Crewe.
Jen will be greatly missed across St Barnabas and the wider community. I wish her all the very best for the next chapter.
Thank you for everything, PCSO Jen Jolley 23641
FREE FOOTBALL SESSION – EVERY WEDNESDAY ⚽
Had a brilliant time catching up with the Crewe Alexandra in the Community coaches at last week’s Premier Kicks session in our park! Huge thanks to the team for running these for us.
If you fancy joining in, it’s FREE every Wednesday from 6pm to 7.15pm at Leighton Brook Park, Frank Webb Avenue CW1 3NE. Just head to the MUGA – everyone’s welcome!
MISSED BIN COLLECTIONS – TUESDAY
I’m aware that some households around Badger Avenue and West Street have missed their recycling collections. The issues on Badger Avenue may be related to roadworks, although both sides of the road were accessible and collections should still have been possible!
I have raised my concerns with the Waste and Recycling team and requested that the collections in these areas are reviewed and that return visits are arranged where necessary. I have also previously raised concerns about recent missed collections on West Street and asked for changes to be reviewed to resolve access issues around the collection point at the top of Bowen Cooke Avenue.
As your councillor, I don’t have direct control over bin collections or access to the system that logs where collections have been missed, but I am doing my best to raise these issues to help ensure we all receive the decent service we deserve.
If your bin was not collected, please report it directly by calling 0300 123 5011 or using the online system:
www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/waste_and_recycling/bins/missed-bin-collections.aspx
Thank you for reporting any missed collections so the team can resolve them quickly.






















