I REALISE that sometimes I can sound like a stuck record regarding certain subjects.

Take Cheshire East Council, for example.

For anyone writing a column about local life in our shire, Cheshire East is a rich seam that is there to be mined.

And just when you think you’ve seen it all, along comes something else that makes you shake your head in wonder and bewilderment.

In case you missed it, the latest report that puts Cheshire East back in an unwelcome spotlight came from the Taxpayers Alliance which recently published its ‘Town Hall Rich List’.

The list details the salaries of council employees who are earning the big bucks.

It is quite remarkable that the deeply troubled Cheshire East comes out top (or should that be bottom) of the list, paying £100,000 a year to more senior officials than any other council in the north west.

Exactly what are they doing with our money, I wonder.

The fact remains there is no evidence that Cheshire East can get a handle on its problems, despite paying out considerable sums of money to its staff.

But I wonder if there is a solution, and it is one that has been put forward before.

We used to have Cheshire County Council responsible for running our libraries, education services, social services and road maintenance. And everything seemed to work just fine.

Then along came local government reorganisation in 2009 and everything changed.

Out went the old two-tier system and in came the unitary authorities of Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester. And that’s when things started to go wrong.

Surely the time has come to consider merging the two authorities back into one.

We already have the blueprint from the old Cheshire County Council days – and just think of the potential savings that could be made. Maybe this is something that could and should be looked at. I suggest it is.

Do you agree with our columnist The Fly in the Ointment?

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