Cheshire East Council has shown many incompetencies by first running to a London-based agency to advise on local town planning (instead of using a local firm who is sensitive to the history of the area and who pays local rates to support the Council).
In relation to their planning documentation 'Local Plan' the facts hide behind much copy that demonstrates the Council employs unnecessary staff to dress up facts in a pedantic way. We have to assess the suggestions and match against the various incompetencies and mistakes made in the past from which the council does not seem to have learnt it lessons (e.g Lindow Moss' exploitation brought about by Council negligence; illogical local road lane layouts, finance squandered on LED traffic lights and crossings to meet a fashion, the privatisation of Council services that have led to deterioration of regular grid cleaning operations, Nuttalls replaced by a truly incompetent company for street lighting maintenance and implimentation of zonal switching that doesn't work).
The Council seems to be driven by novelty and greed in providing bonus financial income when its rates are sufficient to meet the demands of an efficiently-run Council that focuses on necessities.
In the light of the above I make my observations about the Plan:
1. Cheshire East has not demonstrated that you are first exploring ALL brownfield sites (are these not attractive to the developer?)
2. Cheshire East give credence to the creation of new estates before putting building in motion to provide the services and infrastructure that needs to be in place BEFORE consideration of the adverse loading on local communities incurred in your schemes.
3. The town cetnre plan seems to have been discarded despite the amount of cost the consultation required.
The electorate are left wondering about the competence of those running the Council.
The Chesire hub telephone system doesn't work since it requires the enquirer to go two sides round a triangle to reach a destination of communication, rather than having direct exchange line access to each department. This playing of games does not happen on the continent, their roads and pavements are properly swept and maintained without a need for rate-payers to alert the Council to take action. Your work is surely to ensure regular maintenance rather than dreaming up fancy schemes, and this we want to see. The fact that Cheshire Highways lorries sport the CEC logo when privately owned is a joke that few will appreciate.
When are you going to SERVE your electorate? There is no need for the 4,700 homes unless the Council is in league with developers for some hidden return. The figure seems to have been dreamt up by a committee room discussion, held in a vacuum.
We require the Council to think again, and with much more logic to their actions.
Photo: I have just returned from the Continent (Budapest, Bratislava and Viennna) where maintenance is always givden priority. The streets of poor continental countries are immaculate.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
If we/you really want local to mean LOCAL do it via the ballot box and give ratepayer representatives the nod over and above self-satisfying political flunkies (of all/any colour, and I'm a supporter of the present lot in Westminster) - it's the only way to sort a broken system.
When it comes to what happens around us forget the main parties. I'd rather put my faith in and have at least a majority at the CEC table of a more considerate, sensible, local-centric group of people making decisions for and on behalf of we citizens.
Do nowt, nothing changes. I'm no radical but what have we to lose?
However Raymond, the one area you didn't mention is CECs laughable strap line - "YOUR Cheshire East - Putting residents first". When you have stopped laughing the real danger to "the residents" is that the dim wits associated with this council (the majority party's councillors, the senior officers etc) probably believe this inane, mendacious, wholly inappropriate piece of propaganda.
If the Conservative majority councillors truly believe this they would have acted accordingly. Instead, CEC has completely & consistently ignored the "residents" by doing exactly as it wish. Just look at the Local Plan, its attack on Green Belt, its ignoring brown field sites not only in Wilmslow & Handforth but across the whole of the old Macclesfield Borough area. They prefer to pander to greedy, uncaring developers (sorry, they do care about their mega profits opportunities by exploiting Green Belt).
Perhaps it is time for all residents to examine each and every CEC's Wilmslow councillors voting record at the 26th February council meeting - not one Wilmslow Conservative voted against the plan; the only Wilmslow councillor to vote against was RoWs Cllr Toni Fox of Dean Row. The others are mere voting fodder to do the party's bidding.
Residents of Wilmslow is the only body that is willing to say "the emperor has no clothes". We hope that come the next elections the Wilmslow residents will remember that the current crop of Conservatives on both Wilmslow Town Council and on Cheshire East Council are certainly not "Putting residents first" - their creed is "Party first" whereas RoWs is "Residents first".