Opinion: Where is the town council?

IMG_0116

Estate Agents have an interest in making Wilmslow look good for prospective buyers, but they, and other commercial premises are doing the opposite, littering the streets of the town with endless A-board signs and parking their cars on the wide landscaped pavement.

The same is happening at the Grove Arcade and outside Tesco's. This never happened years ago. Our local council needs to get a grip on all the ugly and unnecessary posts, signs and street furniture disfiguring the centre.

Fifteen months after being voted narrowly into power, Wilmslow Town Council seems to be lost in a vacuum. Despite many issues concerning Wilmslow residents - not least the proposals in the Cheshire East Wilmslow Vision to potentially build on green belt and develop the land by the leisure centre. Instead of leading from the front the town council has taken a back seat and won't even look at plans for a simple, low-cost, high impact landscape enhancement for the town centre, proposed by myself and the Wilmslow Trust three years ago, with support from the local Business Group.

This would make the town a more attractive place for residents, businesses and visitors. I raised this with the council in January but apparently they don't want to consider the centre until the Wilmslow Vision is concluded by Cheshire East. More time wasted. The Wilmslow vision is and should be part of the town centre plans! Can't they do two things at once?

Meanwhile, speculative office development continues, when we find that there are 174 empty commercial premises in the area, including 94 offices.

We are paying an added precept in council tax for a town council that appears to have done very little apart from spend a good proportion of its budget on administration costs. Residents deserve better.

This is a member post by Brian McGavin.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Comments

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.

Stuart Redgard
Sunday 29th July 2012 at 10:32 pm
I agree that A boards are ugly but none of the ones shown in the picture above appear to be on the public highway. They all appear to be on private land so neither Cheshire East Council oor Wilmslow Town Council can do anything about them. Cheshire East Council (CEC) do have a Policy on Advertising Boards on the highway. Its is called "Clear Ways Forward" and can be found at http://www.cheshireeasthighways.org/Uploads/Files/Clear%20Way%20Forward.pdf

It was championed by Councillor Menlove and when it was introduced in November 2010.

CEC had a big crackdown on business's in Wilmslow Town Centre when it was first introduced and there were a number of articles in the local press from unhappy business's who had there signs removed . However, It would appear that like most things that Cheshire East invest time and effort in they do not continue to implement things after the initial rush of enthusiasm.

Councillor Menloves' contact details (including telephone number and address) are available at

http://moderngov.cheshireeast.gov.uk/ecminutes/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=468
Chris Wigley
Thursday 2nd August 2012 at 9:32 am
I am far more concerned at the encroachment of public footpaths by hedges and vegetation that can make it very hard to pass others pedestrians. Have a look at the narrowing of footpaths around Alderley Road near Kenmore Health Centre and see how they have been narrowed.