Wilmslow Town Council has agreed to take on the services of a handyman on a trial basis to enable them to be more proactive in clearing up problems in the town.
Members felt that there are a number of issues and services that could be looked at to improve the appearance of the town - such as litter picking, repairing street furniture, cleaning pavements, picking up leaves etc.
Councillor Gary Barton said "Having a handyman would mean we have someone on hand to do those items quickly rather than perhaps relying on Cheshire East.
"We are in a situation where the level of austerity that Cheshire East is undergoing is increasing, that the cuts that have happened so far have been the lighter end of the cuts. So in order to maintain and even enhance services, if we want to do that, then the town council will need to consider stepping in on some areas."
He added "So there are number of areas where we think having a handyman available to us would be very valuable. We don't want to employ somebody so this arrangement would be taking him on as a contractor essentially. This person is already used by Handforth (Parish) Council and has received very favourable reviews for the work he does for Handforth Council."
The handyman charges £15 per hour plus any expenses, such as equipment hire or materials, and the Town Council has agreed to take him on for one day a fortnight on a trial basis until the end of April when they will review the arrangements. If they are working well they will consider increasing the arrangement to one day a week for the summer months. The total cost would be £6000 a year for one day a week.
Town Clerk Matthew Jackson said "The reason for this particular approach is really about being more proactive in terms of dealing with litter and weeds rather than waiting for a report to come back to say there are issues in X location with litter, weeds or whatever it might actually be.
"It's really about actually going looking for these problems, it is as much about that as dealing with issues which come up - which they will. There will be issues that come up but it's also about dealing with things by actually going and looking for them and taking a proactive approach to repairs and maintenance of the street scene."
He added "There will be some flexibility on how it works, some weeks it might be two days and not do anything the next week but the principle behind this is to be proactive to utilise those hours to go and find where the problems are. It's a different approach."
Councillor Frank McCarthy said "As well as being proactive there are many things that we as councillors spot, things that we need to get done and the present way that we can do them with other agencies can sometimes take a heck of a long time.
"This is a chance for us as councillors to spot things and get things done quickly for the people and not have to hang around as people don't understand why sometimes it is obvious that something needs doing and nothing seems to happen. This gives us an opportunity to do something about that and it means as councillors we'll be able to do something quite positive.
He added "As it is difficult to quantify it is very good that we are doing it for a limited period of time so we can find out precisely just how it is going to work. It may well be that the actual days per week might well change depending on what happens. We are not going to be having someone sitting around just because he happens to be there that day but we all know there are plenty of things that need to be done in Wilmslow and quickly and this gives us a good opportunity to do that."
Comments
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Really need about a dozen full time people to address the neglected roads and footpaths! Clearly CEC has given up. How about delivering letters to all the residents who allow hedges to grow and obstruct footpaths. Some classic examples on Hawthorn Lane and Broadwalk where footpath width is less than 50% due to negligent property owners.I believe that the council (Town or CEC) is responsible for advising owners and could be liable for any accidents resulting from restricted footpaths and lack of access for less able people. Also, who is responsible for maintaining the publicly owned piece of land between the corner of Broadwalk and Carrwood Road adjacent to the electricity substation?
Great value.
"Whilst seeking a job they can make a contribution for the money they are receiving from the state."
Are you aware that many of these people have already paid their own contributions when they had a job?
Are they not allowed to receive something back in their hour of need?
"There are so many unemployed people in this area on state benefits. Give them a job to do."
Why not carry this suggestion further than just a handyman.
Let's also use the unemployed to sweep the streets, collect refuse, maintain the parks and gardens or any council job, in fact.
The problem is that all those people who do these jobs professionally will themselves become unemployed and you are back to square one.
In my opinion, if you need a handyman to do a few jobs, get a handyman and pay him a reasonable wage.
It would appear you want to force cheap labour to do these jobs.
I know which society I would rather live in.