News in Sandbach

Ward councillors are set to have an extra £4,200 at their disposal to tackle issues like potholes from April.

As part of the Cheshire East 2021/22 budget, Cllr David Marren proposed an amendment to the finance plans which would see each member given 'at least £4,200' to tackle highway maintenance issues in their area.

The government has slashed Cheshire East's funding for potholes and road maintenance by nearly £4 million this year.

Cheshire East Council has been allocated a total of £13 million from the government's highways maintenance funding for the next financial year, which includes £5.7 million for potholes.

A vote of no confidence in Cheshire East's Mayor, Cllr Barry Burkhill, has been moved for further scrutiny by the council.

The motion, brought forward by Cllr Liz Wardlaw at full council yesterday (February 17), seeks to remove Cllr Burkhill from his position due to his involvement in the viral Handforth Parish Council meeting clip.

Sandbach residents will have to pay 4.99 per cent more council tax from April, after Cheshire East councillors approved a new budget for the upcoming year.

The budget, formally known as the Medium Term Financial Strategy, sets out the council's tax and spending plans from 2021 to 2025.

Cheshire has seen a doubling of domestic abuse cases since the beginning of the pandemic, new figures reveal.

Statistics released by charity My CWA (Cheshire Without Abuse), which has been commissioned by the Police and Crime Commissioner PCC, revealed the number of victims it is supporting – which includes both adults and children – doubled from 200 pre-Covid to 400 today.

Motorists are being warned to stay clear of the M6 in South Cheshire after two collisions this afternoon.

Both northbound and southbound carriageways have been shut between junctions 18 (Middlewich/Holmes Chapel) down to junction 16 (Crewe/Stoke-on-Trent), following collisions, one of which has seen a van driver rushed to hospital and the other a fuel tanker spill its load.

The mayor of Sandbach has condemned the online criticism of town council staff "who are unable to defend themselves".

In a statement released today (16 February), Cllr Geraint Price Jones described discussing internal staffing matters on public forums as a "direct failure in our duty of care".

The founder and chairman of JD Wetherspoon has demanded that pubs reopen at the same time as non-essential shops.

Tim Martin, whose pub chain includes The George Inn on High Street, stated the pub industry is on its knees, and that jobs would be lost if pubs did not open their doors soon.

VisitBritain CEO Sally Balcombe writes for Nub News:

As we approach the February half term, a time when many of us would usually have been looking forward to a short-break away, the impact on the industry and the economy from the loss of tourism again comes into sharp focus.

A Sandbach woman who tested positive for Coronavirus has been fined by police after going to a bank.

The incident occurred on Wednesday (10 February) when police were alerted to the woman who was failing to self-isolate and risked spreading the virus to others.