TWO weeks ago the Macclesfield Express unveiled the new logo for the new unitary council of Cheshire East.
Since then, the ‘Wheatsheaf’ emblem has prompted much debate.
Some people are delighted with the fresh new face of a modern council, while others have branded the £250,000 cost of its implementation as money poorly spent.
The ‘Wheatsheaf’, which has drawn comparison with the Cheshire County Council logo, was voted for by the public during a widespread consultation process.
A budget of £250,000 will now finance alterations to council branded equipment and vehicles across Macclesfield, Crewe, Nantwich and Congleton. A number of councillors have welcomed the new branding for the council as a positive start for the new authority.
Macclesfield Borough Councillor for Bollinbrook and Shadow Councillor for Cheshire East, Ainsley Arnold, said that the brand was simply the populist choice and there is a need for the rebranding to fall in place with the new council.
He said: "If you look at the size of the authority and the number of vehicles, then it brings the cost into some sort of perspective. Even if you only had the words Cheshire East, it would still cost that amount of money because there was no additional money spent on the design."
He added: "You could have no logo and put nothing on your letterheads and have nothing on council vans, but it’s important for many of these services to be easily recognised.
"As far as I’m concerned, it’s important that we have a brand for Cheshire East and one would hope that the cost would be kept down."
Coun Richard Watson defended the cost, but admitted that the "Wheatsheaf" would not have been a personal choice.
He said: "Most of these costs are due to changes that will happen in due course, like ordering new stationary. I would have liked to have seen a new image for the new authority, like the rising suns. The wheatsheaf are somewhat reminiscent of Cheshire County Council and I think a fresh start would have been more appropriate."
And fellow councillor Karen Whittle also expressed reservations.
She said: "I suppose I am a bit old fashioned. I would have liked to see something more heraldic, but the wheatsheaf is nice and it does appear on the school uniforms in Macclesfield."
But Coun Brendan Murphy is not a fan of the new badge.
He said: "I think it’s a bit ironic that it’s wheatsheaf because I’ve never seen wheatsheaf in the country for years, let alone in Cheshire, and it’s collapsing backwards into the past. I understand that one of the reasons they chose it was for bringing together people of Macclesfield and Crewe, as if the M6 is some great Berlin Wall that has to be destroyed so people can be reunited."
The new badge will soon begin to appear on stationery and publications across the borough, with the aim to adorn every Cheshire East object, or employee, by 2011.
