'People want to feel proud of where they live' - Council leaders pleased with town and parish discussions
Shropshire Council's leaders say they are optimistic about the authority's future relationship with town and parish councils.
Earlier this month Shropshire Council's new administration launched a 'call for information', asking town and parish councils for their views on 'joint working' arrangements for services.
The council's Liberal Democrat deputy leader, Councillor Alex Wagner said that following the call on June 18 there had been 27 responses from 153 of the town and parish council's in the Shropshire Council area.
He said that there are hopes the discussions will allow authorities to move quickly over services such as street cleaning and signage - "things that make the public realm better".
He said they were asking: "How do we get Shropshire Council out of the way of letting them deliver services they want to?"
He added: "At the moment Shropshire Council is the bottleneck and the system does not work."
Councillor Wagner highlighted how Shrewsbury Town Council is already picking up services which help to improve the town - and said there is potential to see that reproduced across the county.
He said: "Shrewsbury is already doing that but it needs to be expanded to rural areas and the towns that are keen."
He added that the discussions are about "showing we trust you to get on with it", adding that the "feedback we have had so far is nearly unanimously positive".
Council leader Heather Kidd said she was hopeful that partnerships with town and parish councils could address some of the concerns raised by the public over the state of their local towns and villages.
She said: "People want to feel proud of where they live and at the moment it is really difficult for them to do anything about it when they don't feel proud."
The call for responses is open until Monday, August 18.
