BIG PICTURE
GIVE us back our pavements!
Recently the centre of the town has become almost a no-go area for people like me who are disabled.
Almost every shop feels the need to display an A frame or other type of sign and now this has turned into a “let’s claim some of the pavement for display”. Is there nothing that can be done to prevent these clogging our pavements?
Chestergate is the worst, and during the morning periods when vehicles enter to deliver it is becoming positively dangerous for pedestrians who often have to leave the designated pavement area because of these obstructions.
The street now has tables, chairs and mini eating areas outside most of its cafes.
You can see products take up the entire pavement area.
Forcing pedestrians and the disabled into the roadway is NOT a good way to get us to buy from you.
I hope that some councillor reads this plea for help and is willing to take up the case. Alan Lord via email IT is now some two and a half years ago, when Mayor, and therefore non-party political, I received information that led to serious concerns within Cheshire East.
AS is well known I took the position as stated in the Constitution to be ‘the conscience of the Council’ and despite a great deal of pain struggled through that autumn gradually receiving more and more information, until finally after an interview with Arif Ansari at the BBC, the police came in.
Since that time, the Police have been investigating that and other matters, and so I was very grateful to learn yesterday that the relevant file has been sent by the police to the Crown Prosecution Service.
None of this would have been possible without the very real co-operation, despite endless criticism by many, of the senior people in the Council: that is the Leader, Rachel Bailey, and the Cabinet and the Acting Chief Executive, Kath O’Dwyer and other senior officers.
Only time will tell what the CPS decides, but I would like to pay tribute to the Conservative led Council for its full support to the enquiry at this very challenging time.
Despite all this the work of the Council has continued and the Council has won a number of awards; great strides have been and are being made to ensure it is a good place to work and live and the responsibilities of the Council to its citizens are being met notwithstanding the very challenging finances that all councils are facing. Hilda Gaddum Councillor for Sutton MOST people rarely need to ring the Police, call for an ambulance or a fire engine, rarely need a social worker or health worker, or an appointment at a doctors or a scan or x ray.
Most people are lucky not to need support from the state and as a result simply don’t see the effect of nine years of Conservative cuts at first hand.
The unlucky ones among us are fully aware of the cuts to public services.
But as soon as the pot holes litter our roads we can ALL visibly see the effect of Conservative policies. Pot holes are changing our driving habits.
You can no longer look ahead to monitor the road and traffic in front of you. Instead we are all looking at the road surface to avoid crunching into the next pot hole.
I welcome Cheshire East Council’s vote to increase spending on pot holes and I am reliably informed that the decision to fill them in is based on engineering principles rather than at the whim of some councillor or another.
This is all well and good, but repairs are slow and the roads remain dangerous. Pot holes needs to be addressed in the same way as all the other public service issues need to be addressed and that is ending the tax cut, high borrowing regime of the Conservative government.
We need investment to create growth in the economy and this growth will allow for a larger tax take and in turn greater investment in public services.
At the present rate I cannot see that local government services will be sustainable.
The general public are fed up with cuts to valuable public services and the only way to change this is through the ballot box.