Charges

We need to standardise taxes & charges across the new council - and this is always going to throw stories up in the press. It's a contentious issue.

To make matters worse, the recent plans to keep a shared library system with the West means charges in this area need to be in line with theirs, which makes the process even more difficult.

So this is a pre warning of what we'll all be complaining about in the next 12 months.

We've seen evidence which suggests that the parking task group are going to introduce parking charges in Congleton, and I'm sure that there's going to be riots over this.

(Quite right as well - we should have free parking everywhere).

Not all charges will be standardised from day 1, but here are some others in Leisure from a recent council report which need looking at:

* Headline swimming charges are significantly cheaper in Macclesfield when compared to the other two local authority areas;
* Grass football pitches are significantly more expensive within the Congleton (sic) compared with Crewe & Nantwich and Macclesfield;
* Crewe & Nantwich is the only area that offers free entry to children under 5 years whereas the other two areas allow free entry for Children under 3;
* Crewe offers a junior discount for children under 17 years whereas the other two local authority areas offer discounts for those under 16 years;
* Congleton allows free use of leisure facilities by members of the armed forces;
* Crewe offers free swimming for people with a registered disability.