Pledge 1 - "Make Winsford's budgets go further"
* Last updated on Sat 28th Oct 2023
“Make Winsford's budgets go further by bringing more money back into the town.”
We're not really sure what this pledge means - as written, it could mean anything from applying for grants to rattling a can at the market.
According to this organ, this pledge likely refers to reducing the money spent on outsourced services, such as the upkeep of the town park.
Not a bad idea. In fact, the previous town council agreed - slashing on average £700 per month from the bill since Sept 2022 by bringing litter picking and playground inspection of the town park in house.
As the transfer progressed, Northwich Town Council cut work from 14 down to 10, and later 4 times a week, and now only litter pick the park on weekends, saving the town over £10,500 since WTC took control.
WSotE seem eager to stop paying NTC altogether, but as yet have no plan to ensure town park will still be litter picked on weekends. Fortunately, they have decided not to experiment with allowing the town park to simply collect litter from Friday evening to Monday morning, although they seemed tempted.
On a similar note, Cllr Welch was critical of money being paid to Northwich Town Council for putting up Winsford's Christmas lights even though NTC's hard work has put an end to broken Christmas lights being displayed on our high street.
Instead, Cllr Welch, with the support of other councillors awarded the contract to a close friend who loaned him a cherry-picker to work on his pub, whilst not declaring a personal interest.
Unlike some, this pledge is within the town council's gift - assuming it is actually making reference to the town council's budget, of course - however, in order to spend less on contractors who perform essential work, the town council's own staff would have to take on this work.
They seem pretty busy already, so the question becomes one of whether new staff will need to be hired, which will cost more money, or whether WSotE councillors can find room in the budget elsewhere (read: cuts).
Ignoring the fact that the process of WTC taking over the care of the town park began two Councils ago now, with no input from any current Councillors, and that staffing matters have yet to be raised at any working groups…
…it seems UNLIKELY this pledge will be achieved any time soon.