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SPLIT COUNTY WAR OF WORDS
Councils wanting to split Cheshire in two have accused the county authority of peddling propaganda.

The group, which includes Macclesfield Borough Council, said their figures added up.

Councillor Justin Madders, the chairman of the bid, said Cheshire County Council could not face up to the fact that the Government preferred plans for two unitary councils.

"They are again confusing fact with fiction in a last desperate attempt to save their organisation," he said.

"Their own financial case and assumptions have not been subject to the rigour of such an independent assessment as that undertaken by Deloitte."

He claimed the county council - which has claimed the plans would cost taxpayers £103 million in five years - had made biased and misleading assertions.

The borough councils` figures claim the costs will be covered in two-and-a-half years and £89.9 million would be saved over four years.

The Government, which backed plans to split the county in July, wants costs paid back within five years.

"If the county council want to talk about the best use of public funds then I am more than happy to see how they justify the expensive and unnecessary propaganda war they have been engaged in," said Councillor Madders.

The county council last week said there was overwhelming evidence that the split county would fail the Government affordability test, and that the report by Deloitte was damning.

To decide for yourself read the Deloitte report at chester.gov.uk/peopleandplaces

Source: www.thisischeshire.co.uk/display.var.1787394.0.split_county_war_of_words.php