S I T TI BI

COMITUM

SANCTA COMORS

Registered at the Post Office as a Newspaper Est. 1893

INCORPORATED WITH THE CONGLETON AND MACCLESFIELD MERCURY

THURSDAY, 14th OCTOBER, 2010.

Price 55p

INSIDE: OUR COMPREHENSIVE PROPERTY GUIDE FEATURING LOCAL ESTATE AGENTS

Win tour of Anfield

Juicy times Readers'ViewsPages23-25 Page 30

Page 27

What’s on... What’s gone...

Pages 32-33

Sting In the Tail

Pages 12-13

I’m not paying, says 22-ticket parking rebel

£250 WORTH OF GIFT CARDS TO BE WON WITH YOUR BRAND NEW M&S SIMPLY FOOD STORE IN CONGLETON See next week’s “Chronicle” for your competition entry form

By Chris Young A town centre resident issued with 22 tickets since charges were introduced on Congleton’s car parks in February is refusing to pay.

were installed, saying it was his only alternative.

Penalty notices were put on his windscreen at a rate of one a fortnight from April but since September has had had 11.

Mr KcKinlay has been trying to sell his house since July and said prospective buyers were put off because of the parking restrictions.

Iain McKinlay, of Antrobus Street, accuses Cheshire East Council of “bullying the town” over the charges and has taken his case to the local government ombudsman.

Mr McKinlay’s wife, Lynda, said: “A lot of people who come to see the house ask us what the parking is like. They can see they couldn’t park on our side of the road, so we have to tell them it’s a problem.”

Mr McKinlay complained to the ombudsman on the grounds that the charges were adversely affecting his life and he has also launched an appeal against the fines.

Parking is banned on Mr McKinlay’s side of the street, so he uses the Antrobus Street car park, which used to be free.

As a protest against the charges, he continued parking there after the pay and display machines and signs • —Turn to back page.

An estate agent, who wished to remain anonymous, confirmed that parking had become an issue when showing some town centre homes to buyers.

Take splat! When tennis and paintballing collide

Visitors took a shot at an unusual form of art at a special event at Congleton Leisure Centre on Saturday. Paintballing took on a whole new meaning when people jumped at the chance to lob paint-dipped balls at plastic sheets on the walls of the gym. The event was part of the international big draw day and featured an appearance from renowned artist Katriona Beales. Eleven litres of paint was sprayed on the wall by around 50 have a go paintballers of all ages. And the multicoloured masterpiece will soon be on display in the leisure centre. London based Miss Beales was this year nominated for the National Sculpture Prize. Set up in 2000, the big draw initiative encourages people with no artistic background to get involved in community based art projects. Pictured above, Matt Plumber makes his mark on the mural. ● Our photographer took more photos, see them all at chronicleseries.com (“Chronicle” photo. 4109b/10).

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Choral society blames the council for a bass act of banner removal

Banners for Congleton Choral Society’s production of the “The armed man” have been pulled down and Cheshire East Council has been blamed.

If the authority is to blame, it has “form”: the choir’s Mike Muston said Congleton Operatic Society had received an apology from the council for a similar incident.

Mr Muston, a tenor, said: “I don’t understand why they have done it. It would have been nice if they had at least rung us to explain why the banner was removed.

“One has been returned but the other is still missing and it doesn’t seem fair.

Mr Muston pointed out that as a voluntary organisation, the choral society simply wished to provide entertainment for themselves and others.

Under council proposals for regulating policy on advertising boards on public highways, it has been suggested that unofficial signs promoting businesses should be removed, while those promoting events by recognised “not for profit” community groups are acceptable.

According to Mr Muston, the choral society fitted the latter description and made losses on some charity concerts.

As the “Chronicle” went to press, the council had not responded to the claims.

The society is performing “The armed man”, a “mass for peace” by Karl Jenkins on Saturday at the Congleton Town Hall from 7.30pm.

MrMuston has appealed for tenors and basses to join the society. Anyone interested in joining should phone him on 01260 273 401.

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