IT is a fact that in November 2013 the clerk of Crewe Town Council was asked by the then Cheshire East town centre manager whether they wanted the Christmas lights.

It is a fact that Crewe Town Council declined the offer; confirmed by CEC.

It is a fact that later that same month, having been told by Crewe Town Council that they did not want the Christmas lights, the Cheshire East town centre manager asked me, as a representative of Nantwich Town Council, whether Nantwich wanted the lights and that was confirmed.

Crewe Town Council, now claim that best practice would normally have been to offer them to all towns and parishes in Cheshire East.

However, this logic highlights a lack of local understanding.

Most of these lights were acquired by the former Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council for display only in the former borough’s two principal towns, Crewe or Nantwich.

They would have been paid for by the borough council tax payers and should only have been offered to Crewe or Nantwich. Cheshire East confirm that they own the lights.

However, if Crewe Town Council can prove that they owned any of the lights, by providing purchase receipts, they can have those they have bought.

I asked Clr Hickson in April, for ownership evidence, but none has been forthcoming.

It’s time to put up or shut up.

Crewe Town Council has known for months that the lights they declined were accepted by Nantwich Town Council.

You were offered the lights and you didn’t want them. You have had plenty of time to plan for Christmas and you still have plenty of time to put on a good display.

Show your town what you can do, stop being negative and work with Cheshire East, as Nantwich does.

The residents of Crewe deserve better.

Clr David Marren