Wilmslow Town Council has decided to increase the number of days which the handyman they employ works.
The Council started trialling the services of a handyman early in the year to enable them to be more proactive in clearing up problems in the town - such as litter picking, repairing street furniture, cleaning pavements, removing graffiti and picking up leaves.
Initially they agreed to take Paul Redwood on for one day a fortnight on a trial basis until the end of April, then - because it was working well - they increased the arrangement to one day a week over the summer months.
At the Town Council meeting on Monday, 20th November, councillors voted unanimiously to increase the level of service to one day a week throughout the year, rather than one day a week during the summer months and once every fortnight during the winter months.
Town Clerk Matthew Jackson said "When we set it up we expected there to be more work in the summer than there is in the winter but what's actually happening now is he is backing up a lot of jobs because he is actually only working two days a month."
Councillor Frank McCarthy said "Initially we weren't too sure about how this was going to work out but as we know this has been one of the great success stories of the Council and the impact it has had has been quite out of the kilter with the amount that has gone into it. It has been one of those good things.
"When we started it, we said we would try it out to see how it went. Now we know how it is going and we've heard this is the time of year when things are building up, obviously it makes a lot of sense to actually make sure the handyman is there and can carry on with the jobs. They're only little jobs but they are important little jobs that people notice and can make a big difference to them."
Councillor Viveene Brooks commented "I think it's a good idea as he has done lots of good work so far and I am sure there will be a lot more."
This means that Mr Redwood will work an extra 13 days at a rate of £120 a day so the additional cost is £1560 and the total cost for a year, if the Town Council decides to continue with this arrangement, will be £6240.
The Council agreed to review the service in six months time.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
The way the pavements are in the Autumn, could do with several handymen. The leaves are very dangerous for the elderly and no doubt anyone who has to struggle with pushchairs and mobility scooters etc. .
Wilmslow Town Council who pay for the servies of the handy man, has no statutory responsibility to pick up litter. Neither does Cheshire East Council. However, I believe that Cheshire East Council does have a statutory responsibility to provide and empty litter bins.
Cheshire East Council uses a company called ANSA Environmental Services to provide and empty litter bins on the public highway.
For more information about Ansa go to http://bitterly/2zXrSPv
You state that, "I recently stopped to thank a volunteer who was picking up litter on Parkway". I suspect that this person was a volunteer for Wilmslow Clean Team.
For more information about Wilmslow Clean Team go to http://wilmslowcleanteam.org.uk
As a member of Wilmslow Clean Team I can confirm that we are supported both financially and practically by both Wilmslow Town Council and Ansa.
It isn't only school children who drop litter. My personal opinion is that more litter is dropped by adults than children. Some of the most common litter items we pick up are cigaret buts, cigaret packaging and beer bottles.
A retailer on Grove Street recently told me that they had witnessed three adults being issued with fixed penalty fines by Cheshire East Civil Enforcement officers. This was for dropping litter on the street. It is a civil offense to drop litter (which includes cigaret buts) and it is the responsibility of Cheshire East Council to enforce this in Cheshire East.
In my opinion, littering seems to have become a normal part of life and socially acceptable to some, if not all parts of our community. My question to you and all other readers would be; Do you agree with my opinion, and what do you think has caused this?
Wilmslow Clean Team has recently celebrated it’s 4th birthday and another news article about our recent activities should be appearing on this excellent site in the next few weeks.
It’s all a bit amateur, including the naming of the job as ‘handyman’ thereby excluding women from applying. Am I expecting too much when I expect WTC to operate within the law and keep its workers safe?
Oh, wait a minute....you have. Several times. And got very little support from Wilmslow voters on every occasion for your views.
As for your latest complaint regarding a full Risk Assessment for every task the "Handy Person" may ever undertake.
Well, lets just say its no surprise you got so few votes...
Cllr Mark Goldsmith - Residents of Wilmslow, Wilmslow Town Council
It seems like only a few years ago that there was a full-time Council employee, in an orange suit, who wheeled his hand cart around sweeping up and picking up litter. I suppose that the money for that disappeared as part of George's austerity hit on Council funding?
Very unprofessional to go on personal attacks and what you say is completely untrue, democracy only works where elected officials are held to account and obey the laws that governments were elected to make.
Do you think WTC is exempt from the law? That it’s okay for councillors to attend meetings and vote for tens of thousands of pounds worth of funding for own projects, to put lives of their employees at risk and women from applying for ‘men’s’ jobs? All of these things are illegal, the question is, what are you going to do about it?