Since forming only a few months ago, the Edgeley Community Association (ECA) has gone on to take all three seats in the Edgeley ward during the May elections, and now occupies a conspicuous position within the council.

Stockport Nub News spoke to ECA leader Cllr Matt Wynne on the party's priorities, and Edgeley more generally.

After a split with Labour last year following disagreements over the selection process, Cllr Wynne formed the ECA, registering as a political party in February 2023 and thus becoming one of the more novel additions to the UK political scene.

He was elected to the Edgeley ward in May alongside ECA colleagues Asa Caton and Leah Taylor.

"We came up with a programme of work based on what residents had been saying and on what we thought the area needed", he says. As to what that programme looked like, the councillor distilled it into six salient points.

First of all was housing. Cllr Wynne expressed the importance of more council housing and regeneration in Edgeley, whilst still maintaining a few caveats.

Castle Street, Edgeley's high street (Image - Alasdair Perry)

"We welcome more housing through the MDC", the councillor said.

"It's the perfect place for it in the town centre; you have the bus station next-door, you have the railway station, and it's using land that in some places is underutilised.

"Our job is to make sure that the plans are being done with people rather than to them, [...] to provide the checks and balances that are needed with the Mayoral Development Corporation.

"We're supportive, because we need more housing, and we're seeing good proposals coming forward already on some social housing in the MDC.

"The Lib Dem administration - they tend to stop house-building in their areas. What we're not having is all of the borough's housing allocation being dumped [in Edgeley]."

The second priority for the ECA was policing. As Cllr Wynne outlined, this involved "making sure GMP are addressing the priorities which the community sets, and holding them to account".

Anti-social behaviour and the common problem of illegal off-road bikes were both singled out.

Cllr Wynne also stated that the ECA is prioritising relations with Stockport County FC in light of plans for the extension of Edgeley Park. As the iconic ground sits squarely within the ward, negotiating problems around matchday parking was important, he explained.

The Edgeley Community Association's leader, Cllr Matt Wynne (Image - Edgeley Community Association)

The following three priorities considered the beautification of Edgeley more generally. The unglamorous but perennial issue of dog-fouling was singled out - in a built-up area like Edgeley, "you notice when dog-fouling is present in an inner town area with high footfall streets", Cllr Wynne said.

This ties in with the ECA's wider ambition to improve alleyways and make communal areas in Edgeley more pleasant.

As the councillor explained, "We're trying to change our alleyways from what they are perceived as - dead spaces that people don't care about - to thriving social areas where mental wellbeing and social goodwill is built".

"Our job is to make sure that the plans are being done with people rather than to them."

As the sixth point, the ECA leader described his hopes for a 'credible plan for investment in Castle Street, Edgeley's District Centre' from the council, to fund these initiatives and more.

Indeed, on the subject of council investment, Cllr Wynne also spoke of Edgeley's new 'Digital Hub', set up by Sky and AgeUK.

Whilst maintaining his hopes that the hub would get all the council resources it deserved, the councillor said: "I've got to take my hat off to Sky and AgeUK, they've done an absolutely brilliant job with that unit.

"We now have another community space in Edgeley that people of all ages can utilise. It's what we make of it as a community now. I do hope that it will be provided with all the council resources that it is promised.

"Hopefully it will get people more digitally active and become a very well-used meeting space for residents and community groups alike."

With a wide-ranging programme and a 'strong belief in being open, honest, accountable and the public service ethos', the ECA is evidently ambitious for the Edgeley ward.

Edgeley residents with their own views can attend the ECA's open forum, hosted every six weeks at the Alexandra pub; the next meeting is due to take place on Monday 14 August at 7.30pm.

Free from clickbait, pop-up ads and unwanted surveys, Stockport Nub News is a quality online newspaper for our town.

Please consider following Stockport Nub News on Facebook or Twitter