Alderley Edge Parish Council has appointed a handyman to help improve the appearance of the village.
Paul Redwood has recently become our new Parish Lengthsman. He will be carrying out certain tasks around the village, including footpath sweeping, litter picking, weeding the flower beds in the park, cutting back hedges, cleaning the village signage and and minor repairs to street furniture. One of Paul's first tasks, has been to cut back the overgrown hedge on Chorley Hall Lane railway bridge.
Councillor Craig Browne said "I am sure Paul will become a much recognised figure around the village and hope everyone will give him a warm welcome."
Paul replaces our previous Lengthsman Nigel Thompson who retired just before Christmas, having been employed by the Parish Council for many years.
Councillor Browne added "We felt that Nigel's retirement gave us a good opportunity to review the role and we decided that it would be more cost effective to sub-contract the delivery of the service, rather than employ another member of staff.
Paul is already sub-contracted by Wilmslow Town Council and Handforth Parish Council and was therefore felt to be a good fit with what we needed.
"He will be sub-contracted by Alderley Edge Parish Council for up to twelve hours per week until the end of March, with a view to making this a longer-term arrangement thereafter. We felt that we needed someone who would be able to add value to the basic-level service provided by Cheshire East Council."
If there are any particulars issues which you feel need addressing in the village and the our new Parish Lengthsman could help with please do let us know via the comment box below.
Comments
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However, the works listed above are imho the duties of Cheshire East.
Am I correct in believing that? If so, is it possible to eventually have Cheshire East carry out future such works?
Thank You
However, I cannot help but ask where are the residents of the village themselves and why don't they take responsibility for cleaning up outside their own properties? I live on Mottram Road and I regularly clean the pavement and the gutters that run the length of my property particularly when the leaves fall from the trees (which, incidentally, don't belong to me). I do this out of a wish to see my property looking clean and tidy and out of a sense of community so that people (the elderly, joggers, walkers etc) do not have to plough their way through a mountain of leaves and to ensure that the gutters do not get horrendously clogged with leaves causing drain blockages. The Council cleans the gutters only intermittently and if they try to do it during the day there are always cars parked on the road (see previous story regarding commuters parking on local roads!) which makes sweeping impossible. Whenever I do the leaf cleaning passers by always express amazement that I am doing it and often say 'You're doing the Council's job' which I think is a sad indictment of peoples' lack of civic pride.
There again, my Mother is German and I have spent a great deal of time in that country where they see it as an obligation to take responsibility for cleaning outside their own front door and you will see people at the weekend in the street sweeping and washing the pavements. I wonder what it is; German efficiency and community spirit or less of dependence on the nanny state?