CREWE Town Council is set to plead with the leader of Cheshire East Council this week to let the authority rent a room in the town’s Municipal Building after being knocked back almost a year ago.

In September 2013, the Tory-led Cheshire East Council told the all-Labour town council that any spare capacity at the Earle Street building had been earmarked for future use by CEC themselves.

But Clr Kevin Hickson, leader of Crewe Town Council, has this week called on his counterpart at Cheshire East – Clr Michael Jones – to rethink his decision not to permit the council to rent space in the building.

“The Town Council is looking at its strategic requirements for accommodation in the long term,” he told the Guardian.

“It has always been our ambition to rent space in the Municipal Building from Cheshire East and pay our fair share. In meetings and various contacts with Michael and others at Cheshire East the answer has always been ‘no’.

“Clr Jones did say in a letter to the press some time ago that the town council could rent space, but that promise has never gone anywhere. The Municipal is the spiritual home of civic life in Crewe and it is only fitting that the Mayor of Crewe and the town council has its home in that building.”

The town council even went to the lengths of requesting information from Cheshire East to see how many rooms in the building were occupied.

“We know from a recent FOI request that the building is massively under occupied, so space cannot be the reason for refusal,” Clr Hickson added.

“We know that the building potentially offers space for a display area/museum, which is something Michael and I both support.

“I therefore call upon Michael to see reason and identify what space he is willing to offer and on what terms.

“The financial contribution from the town council would in a small way help to increase income to Cheshire East and help to optimise the use of what is a beautiful but chronically under used asset in the town.

“As such it would be good to bury differences for the good of Crewe.”