Cheshire East Council – where are they taking us?

I was concerned to read the recent correspondence in the Chronicle and Audlem Online about the £50 callout fee to obtain the services of the Council Rodent Operative (Rat-Catcher).

Surely this is a vital service to promote the health and welfare of our community at large and one, if any, which should be provided without charge.

Compare this policy to the Cheshire East decision to provide a free brown bin service for all residents, to dispose of green garden waste when previously it was only provided on a 'pay if you need it' basis, as most households in the borough had taken up the CNBC initiative of home composting.

As a result, the council is needlessly generating much more carbon, as garden waste is transported around the county for centralised treatment that will generate more carbon.

And then there is the issue of what this new service is costing the council-tax payer; nothing in this world is free despite what Cheshire East may tell us. I have already heard that the cost of this scheme will exceed the council tax increase for this year, so what percentage increase can we expect for next year?

It raises a serious issue of priorities within our new Council who seem at best un-focussed and who are spending valuable amounts of our money on regular glossy newsletters and attending political party conferences, not to mention the reported £2000 worth of free golfing gifts handed out to attending delegates.

Whilst acknowledging that it takes time for any new council, let alone one foisted upon an unwilling electorate by our non-listening government, to get up and running, the signs so far for Cheshire East are far from encouraging. It seems that we can only hope and pay......

Audlem Online has since received the following message from Geoff Seddon: "I cannot let Peter Morgan's comments about the charge levied for rodent control by Cheshire East go by without response.

"In the late 1980s/early 1990s the then Government reduced grants to local authorities as a way of saving central government costs. As a direct result, local authorities had to raise the difference by either raising the then "poll tax" (which was capped by central government) or by raising or introducing charges for services. Rodent control was one of the services that had a charge levied for the first time.

"It is standard practice for local authorities to charge for rodent control. I'm not sure what Peter's complaint is, but to single out Cheshire East for this charge is wholly unfair. As for non-listening governments ..... I doubt whether ours of the 1980s can ever be beaten!"

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