Council on Shropshire border in £7k bill shock over play area switch
Chirk Town Council could face a bill of £7,000 over plans to switch who is responsible for play areas.
The town council has agreed to take over the running of the seven play areas from Wrexham Council.
But Wrexham Council has written to the town council to say legal agreements had not yet been achieved to allow the switch to go through.Wrexham Council has also told the town council it must pay it £7,000 a year to meet the cost of Wrexham Council carrying out weekly inspections of the plays areas in the meantime.
Chirk Town Clerk Sam Hughes said he had been in talks with Wrexham Council over the funding request.
He said: "This was different from what we said. We said we would take it all over. They have said we would have to pay for their inspections.
"Perhaps we can do the inspections ourselves."
Mr Hughes said Wrexham Council had indicated that if the town council did not accept the arrangement, the play areas could be closed.
Councillor Frank Hemmings said Wrexham Council had appeared to have "moved the goalposts" on the agreement. He said there was no provision for the £7,000 bill in the council precept plans.
Town councillors agreed to push for talks with Wrexham Council officers over the payment demand.
Meanwhile the councillors have questioned whether a play scheme programme offers them value for money as take-up was low. Councillors agreed to ask a playscheme representative to attend a future meeting to discuss the funding and attendance issues.
