Independent councillors are campaigning to change from the current cabinet system to what they describe as a "more open, transparent and democratic committee system.
Having had previous attempts turned down by Cheshire East Council, members of the Independent group are now asking residents to help them demand change at Cheshire East.
Cllr James Nicholas (Independent, Bollington) explained: "We are launching a petition calling for change to a more open, transparent and democratic, committee-led system. This would mean that ALL councillors are involved in the important decisions, not just a select few members of cabinet.
"We are appealing to residents to support this petition to make the leadership of the Council sit up and listen."
If more than 5% of voters in Cheshire East (c. 15,000 people) sign the petition, then a referendum can be demanded. The referendum would likely be a choice between the existing cabinet-style system and a new committee-led system.
Cllr Arthur Moran (Leader of the Independent Group) added "One of the many problems with the existing cabinet system is that it puts too much power in the hands of too few people. Cabinet consists of just eight councillors, all of whom are selected by the Leader and are from the same political group. They regularly hold meetings in private."
The Change Cheshire East campaign will run for a period of six weeks, from today (October 1st) until November 11th. Any Cheshire East resident can sign the petition provided they are aged 18 years or over.
Cllr Toni Fox (Independent, Residents of Wilmslow) confirmed: "Our campaign is not party-political; it just aims to make sure that whichever group controls the Council next May is forced to act in a more open, transparent and democratic way. The ongoing issues at Cheshire East have had lots of press coverage, but the closed-style cabinet system is largely to blame for these issues arising in the first place."
The petition reads....... "We call for a referendum to change the way Cheshire East Council is run".
Photo: The Independent Group, Cheshire East Council, pictured outside Westfields. (L To R) Councillors:Toni Fox, Simon McGrory, Mike Parsons, Amanda Stott, Craig Browne, Bernice Walmsley, Barry Burkhill, James Nicholas, Mick Warren and Arthur Moran.
Comments
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The Localism Act was invoked to ensure councillors hold the highest ethical Standards. As documented above the current incumbents ( With exception ) have failed, If this had been anything other than a Tory controlled council action would have been taken long ago.
Time for a change
Plenty of ammunition here, thanks Nick.
Anyone else have other experiences of CEC? If so, please air all here.
I know that George Osborne’s Austerity cuts removed many front-line coppers but, surely there ought to be at least one result soon?