Wilmslow Town Council will embark on a programme of refurbishing the town centre benches whilst seeking sponsorship from local businesses.
Councillors agreed at their meeting on Monday, 16th April, to allocate £560 to repair up to eight benches in the town centre which are looking tired.
Matthew Jackson, Clerk of Wilmslow Town Council said "I am aware that Cheshire East Council (CEC) don't have a budget to repair benches, they are owned by CEC but if the Town Council decides to enhance a service provided by the principal authority they are entitled to. The alternative is to do nothing and they will continue to deteriorate."
Cllr Ellie Brooks added "If they are in a bad state of repair then we want them to done asap as they are only going to get worse."
Helen Richards, Assistant Town Clerk, has walked around the town and taken a look at all the benches. She identified that the worst ones were in Bank Square and Grove Street and it was decided that rather than repair all the benches at the same time the council would tackle the worst ones first.
Councillors voted unanimously to "undertake the refurbishment of benches but in doing so seek to maximise sponsorship opportunities to minimise expenditure."
They will take advantage of sponsorship if available but if not they have allocated £560 to cover the cost of refurbishing the first batch, with further expenditure expected in the future. To ensure it is recognised that they have taken over refurbishment of these benches, which belong to CEC, the Town Council discussed the possibility of adding the Town Council crest or a plaque to repaired benches.
Comments
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I am sure Incredible Edible will do them, or volunteers, incl myself would offer the labour. Must be retired or out of work people would offer. If the materials supplied. STOP!! wasting money Get your heads out of the Big Vision clean to town centre with volunteers and unemployed.
It is good that WTC is taking the initiative: it will be a relatively small cost to enhance the appearance of the town and to make life more comfortable and sociable for people. Volunteers can do a lot, but repairing wooden and plastic benches properly requires some expertise so well done WTC for investing in this. If people had suggestions for where more benches or litter bins would be useful do we now ask WTC or CEC?