AFTER 12 months of highs and lows, the leader of Cheshire East Council is hoping to do all she can to win the confidence of residents.

Over the past year Cllr Rachel Bailey has celebrated securing £46 million of Government money for Middlewich’s eastern bypass, the adoption of the long-awaited local plan, and – just last week – receiving parliamentary support for a HS2 hub in Crewe.

But after a year that also involved the suspension of three top officers, the launch of fresh police investigations into council matters, and the revelation that more than 200 members of staff were bullied in just six months, she knows the ruling Conservative group has work to do ahead of next year’s local elections.

Cllr Bailey said: “I’ve been quiet really for the last two years, but there’s a real story to tell now as we really reach into the back of that cupboard within CEC, that means we are really beginning to deliver.

“It’s not lost on me that whether I’m a councillor or the leader of a council, it is about those with a vote in whatever arena feeling that they can trust me.

“Yes it’s a tough story, but if we were doing nothing and the headlines were still there, I believe that would be the negative story.

“It’s pretty brave to look at yourself and say ‘you know what, that wasn’t quite right, and we need to look at it’. And I hope that’s what the electorate will hear.”

A former BHS office worker, Cllr Bailey entered politics as a member of the old Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council in 1998.

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The mother-of-two lives on a 400-acre farm with 360 cows, including prize cow Florence, where she also does admin for the farm.

She said: “I was asked if I would be interested in standing when Cllr Wesley Fitzgerald was standing down [in 2012]. I said no, I’m very happy being cabinet member.

“So when I was asked to stand two years ago, initially I was ‘no’ – but then I thought there was a piece of work to do here.

“It was time for a woman’s touch. Cllr Janet Clowes and I were the candidates, so it was clear that it was.”

Despite her past hesitance to take up the role, Cllr Bailey has no regrets about her decision to step up as leader in 2016.

She says that a major part of that is ‘understanding what this authority is capable of delivering beyond what it’s doing today’.

“When I became leader members from Middlewich came to see me and expressed their disappointment,” she said.

“They actually came with a long list, it was like the Andrex puppy – this long wishlist of promises that had been made to them and none of which had been delivered.

“We went through the list, and to myself and the head of highways, the catalyst and most important item was to deliver that long-awaited bypass – to help traffic congestion in Middlewich and also unlock those employment sites that it’s happy to deliver.”

Cledford Lane has also played a major role for CEC in becoming the new home of its waste management company, Ansa.

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Cllr David Latham has spearheaded the Action Against Ansa campaign in Middlewich

The traffic commissioner gave the company permission to use the site earlier this month, despite concerns from residents about noise, congestion and road safety.

But with the land having already been allocated for heavy industrial use before Ansa moved in, Cllr Bailey believes residents could have faced more disruption if another business moved in rather than Ansa.

“Irrespective of highway journeys and residential use, it had an allocation for employment – and not light employment, B2 employment,” she said.

“So whether it was Ansa there or whoever, there could well be issues.

“Unless the modelling in relation to highways results in a severe impact on the community, actually the planning system has very little tools to refuse a planning application – particularly when it has that B2 designation in existence on the site for many, many years.

“Unfortunately, historic employment sites and the housing that was put by them at that time, was all about people walking to work and when we didn’t require that road journey in the way that we do currently.”

The suspension of Mike Suarez, chief executive, last April sparked off a year of bad headlines for CEC.

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Mike Suarez, the suspended Cheshire East Council chief executive

Legal officer Bill Norman and Peter Bates, chief operating officer, all followed Mr Suarez in being suspended over ‘conduct’ issues.

It was later revealed that some of the council’s air quality data readings between 2012 and 2014 had been manipulated, members of care staff on sleep-in shifts had not been paid the minimum wage, and that almost a quarter of staff surveyed in six months knew of workplace bullying at CEC.

“There’s an ongoing police investigation, audit is working incredibly hard, and we have a disciplinary committee,” Cllr Bailey said.

“But none of that is unique to CEC. And as tough as it is, and as difficult as it is for staff and members, and bewildering to the community – actually, we are doing the right thing.

“We are facing up to any challenges and matters that are raised. As and when matters arise we look at them, we deal with them sensitively and if we feel there is a case to answer, audit pick that up.

“It would be far easier to brush it under the carpet, and we certainly aren’t doing that.”

With investigations into officer conduct still ongoing, CEC still has acting officers in its top positions.

It’s a painstaking process that Cllr Bailey isn’t entirely happy with – but she believes it is an important one.

She said: “We have to take into account, in all of these matters, that it’s affecting people’s lives.

“This process brings protection to those statutory officers from members such as myself as leader simply saying ‘no I’m not happy with you anymore, your contract’s terminated’.

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“However, do I endorse the time it takes? No I don’t, because I think the time it takes for any interested party or our residents must seem to be really concerning.

“But it’s the national process, it’s not CEC’s, and all I can say is that from a resource perspective I’m clear – having asked the question and looked at it – that CEC is resourcing appropriately.”

In the six months up to January 2018, Sarah Messenger, of the Local Government Association, wrote a review on the workplace culture of CEC.

It highlighted that more than 200 members of staff said they had experienced workplace bullying during that time.

Cllr Bailey said: "I completely identify with Sarah's words in which she said ‘when CE was formed an opportunity was missed to set its culture and tone’. I believe it was.

"She also said quite rightly that where there isn’t a culture within an organisation, that void is filled with the culture and tone of whatever those who shout loudest want.

“It’s of grave concern that over 200 members of staff said that they had experienced bullying.

“But to have a response means an awful lot, and it will certainly never leave me that actually, to share that must have equally been as upsetting for those members of staff as it is to work in that culture.

“The fact that staff have responded to the culture review, means that we now have an opportunity to really build on the findings and again, absolutely set CEC where it should be.”

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The adoption of CEC's long-awaited local plan was better news for Cllr Bailey, with the Audlem resident believing it will do more to protect the borough's greenbelt than disrupt it.

Residents across east Cheshire had raised their concerns after three per cent of Cheshire East’s greenbelt was rolled back in the plan, which was adopted last year.

But the council leader insists the plan’s five-year housing land supply of 1,800 new homes a year should stop speculative development in the borough’s green spaces – and help CEC balance its books.

Cllr Bailey said: “If we hadn’t rolled back greenbelt to deliver a housing land supply, a far greater area than the three per cent would have been at risk of redevelopment.

“We need to have an eagle eye on delivering that housing land supply in protecting that greenbelt.

“Without those 1,800 houses, we don’t balance our books, because we don’t have our council tax to fit with growth.”

With 36,000 new homes to be built across the borough under the local plan, residents have also raised concerns about infrastructure – but Cllr Bailey says she is keen to address those.

“Government, with current policies, is development first and infrastructure follows,” she added.

“I completely understand why residents are frustrated when that occurs. It’s always jam tomorrow.

“So what CEC is doing, again on the back of HS2, is looking to bring forward a growth deal where infrastructure can very much be first.”

The news of Government support for a HS2 hub in Crewe has been greatly received by Cllr Bailey.

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Sir David Higgins, chairman of HS2, with Cllr Bailey in Crewe

She believes it is a key part of ‘raising the aspiration’ of the borough – by ensuring the infrastructure and opportunities are there for residents of all ages.

“My daughter left rural Cheshire and went off to university, and was determined to deliver with a law degree,” Cllr Bailey said.

“My husband and son and I are very proud of her, but she’s never come back to Cheshire East, she’s always stayed in the city.

“Our schools – over 90 per cent of them – are either good or outstanding. We do a good job.

“But then our youngsters often stay where they have achieved their qualification and they don’t come back. And we need them to come back, not only for the borough, but for that skillset that our businesses require.”

Like all councils, CEC has tightened its budget over the past eight years as it funding from central Government has decreased, and Cllr Bailey insists the council must be more business-like to cope with modern demands.

“I’m absolutely clear that local government has well and truly punched above its weight in delivering savings and I’m proud of that,” she said.

“But I do recognise that it’s a difficult message to land, and that’s why I want CEC to balance the books with that business approach, but one that ensure that the pot is big enough to go round.”