Council to Petition for Cheshire East Mayor
22nd October 2008
Cheshire East Council could have its own mayoralty.
Councillors on the new local authority, which comes into being on
April 1, 2009, have voted to petition the Queen to grant borough
status for Cheshire East, which means the Council would be able to
elect a Mayor rather than have a chairman. The Council would also
be able to appoint honorary freemen and aldermen.
Councillors at a special meeting at Congleton Town Hall this
week approved the plans by 57 votes to 19. Under the Local
Government Act 1972, the Cheshire East required a two-thirds
majority of councillors voting for the proposal to be passed, and
needed to make a decision by the end of October 2008 for the
Charter, if granted, to come into effect next April.
The Council agreed in July 2008 to submit a petition and to
consult with the local authorities it would replace. The cost of
obtaining a Charter for Borough status from the Privy Council
Office is £2000.
Leader Wesley Fitzgerald says: “We want to bring forward that
which was good from the past to combine with the new setting of
Cheshire East. Having a Mayor is popular among the public as the
civic figurehead. Borough status also brings with it the ability to
grant the Freedom of the Borough and appoint
aldermen.”
Macclesfield Borough Council voted in September 2008 to approve
Cheshire’s East’s proposals, and to seek to recreate a mayoralty
for the town of Macclesfield, returning the office to its pre-1974
status. The mayoralty would be administered by a group of trustees
who are the town’s representatives on Cheshire East Council,
pending the possible creation of a town council. The petition will
depend on parliamentary approval.