'Bid for playing field and car park'

A parish councillor has told Audlem Parish Council that Cheshire East plans to devolve responsibility for many services and to sell assets. This presents, in his view, a great opportunity for the local Audlem community.

Cllr Mike Hill said at this Monday's parish council meeting that the Parish Council should bid to take over responsibility for the public car park, playing field, freehold of the tennis courts and the children's playground in the centre of the village.

He proposed offering £1 as all the land was a community asset and its value was entirely as a community facility which Cheshire East had simply inherited from Crewe & Nantwich Borough Council.

He spoke on the very day that Prince William announced a Diamond Jubillee scheme to preserve Britain's playing fields as thousands had been sold off by councils for development over recent decades. Mike Hill argued that the best way to ensure Audlem's sports and play facilities were preserved would be to run them locally.

He said that the Parish Council should be far more pro-active in local issues and that taking on responsibility for these assets in the centre of the village would show leadership. It would also ensure that parking would remain free in Audlem and that there would never be a threat to these important recreational facilities in the village.

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