With our town centres in dire need of initiative, a brand new £30m school under threat of closure due to miscalculation of student numbers, the wholesale disruption of highways, budget cuts and staff unrest you may wonder how Cheshire East prioritises all the issues clamouring for attention.
Allow me to illuminate.
Whirley residents tidied up a neglected plot of council land, deposited a garden bench and adopted it as a village green.
The land, previously left unattended by CEC, suddenly became a top priority and a crack team of bench snatchers was despatched to remove the seating.
Four days later another CEC team arrived and returned the kidnapped garden furniture to their owners. I’m not sure of the meaning of this curious manoeuvre but I suspect it’s a psychological tactic employed by the SAS.
Explaining their actions a CEC spokesman said, "The furniture did not conform to safety standards," the reason I assume for bundling it into the back of a van, driving it around the countryside before jettisoning it back from whence it came.
Compared to the strangulation of local businesses by unsupervised road works, the colossal cost of building an unwanted school, the reluctance to cut exorbitant executive salaries preventing local subversives from creating a village green was paramount.
Who knows where it would lead once these rural terrorists established a power base?
So, well-done Cheshire East for thwarting this seditious group from turning an eyesore into a manicured seating area. No one should flout planning regulations.
The views on this page are Vic Barlow's and not necessarily those of the Express
