Cheshire East voters drop by a huge 20,851 since 2011, despite a rise in population

 

Research by Willaston and Rope Ward Councillor Brian Silvester has revealed  a big drop in Cheshire East voters.

He said  “The number of electors  has dropped by a huge 20,851 since 2011, despite a rise in population in Cheshire East.(See below) Nationwide nearly a million voters have been lost from the electoral registers.The reason for this is probably the introduction of individual registration.(See below) Everyone is responsible for registering themselves now. Under the old system the 'head of every household' could register everyone who lived at their address. Also you need to provide a few more details to register - including your national insurance number and date of birth. This makes the electoral register more secure and less prone to electoral fraud.

This big drop in voters could have a major impact on the General Election and Local elections on May 7^th.I would urge residents to register to vote if they already haven’t done so. You can now register online at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote or through the Council offices. The elections on May 7^th will be the last chance to vote for the Council for four years so everybody should take the opportunity to vote while they can.”

 

Council pay out £141,000 because they failed to fill in pot holes

Willaston and Rope Ward Councillor Brian Silvester has criticised Cheshire east Council(CEC) for not filling in potholes,

He said, “Residents pay their Council Tax and in return they expect basic services to be provided.Filling in potholes comes into that category. Sadly CEC are failing badly when it comes to potholes. Over the last two years CEC paid out an average of £1,358 a WEEK to motorists who had their car damaged when they drove across a gaping pothole. In total, over the last two years, CEC have paid out £141,233 to 323 drivers, an average of £437 per claim.A further 1,136 drivers drivers were unsuccessful with their claims.

It is not just the cost of compensation for damage to cars, it is also the accidents and injuries and sometimes deaths that occur because of the potholes. Rather than pay out hundreds of thousands in compensation it would be far better if that money was spent on repairing potholes so that compensation could not be claimed.

The self styled Mr. Pothole  http://www.mr-pothole.co.uk/news/entry/what-are-the-facts-about-uk-s-potholes has stated that Cheshire East  is one of the worst  in the country when it come to providing information about potholes. Information that should be readily available has to be obtained by freedom of information requests.

The Cabinet  member whose responsibility is to fill in the potholes said recently that there were no potholes outstanding that he knew of. I would suggest that he moved out of his ivory tower in Westfields and got out more. You don’t need to drive far to see a pothole that should have been filled in long ago.”

Odd Rode Ward Councillor Andy Barratt said, “More needs to be done to advertise and teach people that they too can report highway faults ,potholes, lighting etc. And once a member of public reports a fault, to either fix it asap or explain to the member of public why its not been sorted, rather than ignoring their report.

A lot of claims could be negated if the regular statutory  checks  were kept up to date.”

 

Willaston is being overwhelmed with planning application

Willaston is being overwhelmed with planning application after planning application for yet more houses. I urge all Willaston residents to write in or e-mail to object to the latest applications.

The first application is for 120 houses on lands to the rear of Cheerbrook Road Application number 14/5825N. The deadline for objections has been extended to noon on the 16/2/15 because the site notice was not put up until the 26/1/15. (see below)

The second application is for 175 houses to the south of Park Road Application number 14/5824N The deadline for objections is noon on the 26/2/15

Residents need to write  to:-

Development management

PO Box 606

Municipal Buildings

Earle Street

Crewe

CW1 9HP

e-mail:planning@cheshireeast.gov.uk

I have already written in to object to both applications. If residents want to see a copy of my objections they can e-mail me on  Cllr.Brian.Silvester@gmail.com or ring me on 01270 567757