New council leader expects 'tough challenges'

Nick Mannion was appointed as the council's new leader earlier this month

The new leader of a council that has faced financial pressures said he expected to make decisions that would "not be popular".

Nick Mannion was elected as the leader of Cheshire East Council following the resignation of Sam Corcoran.

The authority has faced significant financial issues, with a report earlier this month warning it could face being forced to issue a section 114 notice, which is when a council is effectively bankrupt.

Mr Mannion said his "ultimate aim" was to make sure the council "never enters section 114 territory".

Protests were held against plans to bring in parking charges outside the council's headquarters

Mr Mannion, who has been a councillor since 2015, was previously the deputy leader of the Labour group which runs the authority in coalition with the Independent group.

Mr Corcoran resigned at a full council meeting last week, just before he was due to face a motion of no confidence submitted by the Conservative group.

A total of 48 councillors voted for Mr Mannion as the new leader, with 22 not voting.

Mr Mannion said it was "really pleasing" that no councillor voted against him being leader and that he planned to "build" on this as he could not work on changes required alone.

"It's something that every councillor has to actively and positively engage in," he said.

The local authority has made cost saving decisions in recent years which have not always been popular with local residents.

These included the introduction of a garden waste collection fee, cuts to library opening hours and a review of parking charges, which led to protests.

An emergency closure of three tips and a consultation which could lead to some libraries having their opening hours slashed were also recently approved.

Mr Mannion said the council needed to save £100m over the coming years and it had drafted a plan which would involve the authority providing services "in a different way" by using technology and working more efficiently.

"It would be disingenuous to say there are not some really tough challenges coming down the line ahead of us but what we have to do is explain why we're doing that," he said.

"Yes there will be decisions that will not be popular but we have to explain why those decisions have been taken and why someone is going to have a library that's perhaps open for fewer hours than it was previously and move forward on that."

Mr Mannion added he was a "lifelong supporter of Macclesfield FC who've gone through similar financial problems in the past years the Cheshire East are facing at the moment".

"We've got a real challenge ahead of us, but I'm committed to the task."