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NANTWICH Town Council finds itself
posing an interesting question. It wants to know how to spend a
hoard of money
on Nantwich. As part of this, it has decided to ask townspeople for
ideas of what
to do with it.
The money comes from
the sale of allotments they owned about a decade ago, a sale which
put about £1million into the council coffers. The land is now the
site of new houses.
Although the council
has used some of the money over the years to keep Council Tax lower
than it would otherwise have been, the remainder - and the interest it
earned - means the council still has about £800,000 available to
spend. And they feel this is a good time to do just that.
But Government
regulations means the money can only be used for capital projects.
These, the Council Leader, Steve Hope, explains in an article in The
Nantwich Link (a local advertising magazine), are things such as
buying land or improving buildings.
There are three ways
the money will be used. 1, the council has its own ideas; 2, the
townspeople can put forward ideas: and 3, organisations have been
invited to apply for grants.
Cllr Hope's council
colleague, Cllr John Lewis, (Chairman of the Finance Committee),
says the three different ways are to ensure that the best value for
the community is achieved.
But, as if using the
money to best advantage isn't enough, Cllr Lewis says: "We are
looking for suggestions and grant applications which will bring in
additional funds to the town."
He explains that a
grant from the Lottery Fund, for instance, depends on getting
additional support for a project. (It usually means that members of
a group seeking funding need to show they have tried to help
themselves financially and aren't just sitting back expecting a
hand-out.) But the council are looking to use the money in ways that
will mean grants from other organisations, too.
Ideas so far being
considered by the council are: work on Mill Island, improving car
parks, refurbishing the town centre paving, and work near to
Nantwich Lake and the River Weaver. One idea in the latter category
is the hydro-electricity scheme being put forward by a local group
to utilise water rushing through the old mill race to provide power
and lighting on Mill Island.
Ideas have to be with
Nantwich Town Council by December 2010. If you have a good idea, contact the Town Clerk,
Riddell Graham, on 01270 619224; visit the council's
website; or
write to Nantwich Town Council at Brookfield Hall, Shrewbridge Road,
Nantwich, CW5 7AD.
Grant application forms
can be downloaded as PDFs from the council's website.
For anyone thinking that
Nantwich is really "rolling in money" with council headquarters
at
Brookfield Hall - this is a single-storey wooden building and not a
stately home. The council used to occupy the adjacent Brookfield
House (now an old people's home) which, despite its more modest name
is a larger, brick and stone, property. |
