Nantwich town councillors are bloomin’ furious after Cheshire East Council said it was more than doubling the cost of watering its floral displays in the town.
ANSA, the environmental arm of CEC, landed Nantwich Town Council with a bill of more than £29,000 for 2022-23 for watering hanging baskets, tubs and planters.
And the bill – a huge rise from just over £12,000 in 2021-22 – arrived more than three months after the town council had already set its annual budget.
The town council has budgeted £16,000 for the service in 2022-23.
But on March 30, ANSA delivered its bill for £29,065.64p plus VAT.
Now town councillors, who criticised the timing, have agreed to put the service out to tender which could take it away from Cheshire East Council altogether.
The town has won North West in Bloom and Britain in Bloom awards almost every year for its stunning displays.
Cllr Arthur Moran told the town council on Thursday: “We should out to tender for next year.
“I spoke to the managing director of ANSA and he just reiterated what has been said.
“It looks like all the towns in Cheshire East have had an increase in charges.
“It was so late in the day to inform us of this considering our budget was set on December 9.”
ANSA also previously watered plants and flowers for voluntary group Nantwich In Bloom for free while they did those owned by the town council.
But new plans show they intend to charge £60 for every watering each week, which could cost the group almost £2,000 over 16 weeks.
Cllr Stuart Bostock said: “How can they (ANSA) present us with this bill without a breakdown of the costs?
“How much is the additional labour, as they would not be doing anything more than they have done since 2017?”
And Cllr John Statham added: “Our budgets have been set and underway well before we received notification of this. They can’t come to us and increase it by £15,000!
“We need clarification of a full breakdown. We should stick to our £16,000 budget for this year and go out to tender next year.”
In total, ANSA waters 50 barrier baskets, 14 3-tier planters, 26 tubs, 15 moss poll baskets, 67 baskets and 14 haymangers three times a week between the end of May and end of September.
It also includes storage in winter, planting and bedding with compost.
Extra charges are imposed during hotter weather which requires more watering.
ANSA told the town council the increase is because they have historically under-charged for the service.
A Cheshire East Council spokesperson said: “These services are provided by the council’s wholly-owned environmental services company, Ansa, which operates on an independent commercial basis.
“Ansa has informed the council that rising operating costs, across the board, have caused the company to review all its service charges.
“Charges for this service to Nantwich Town Council, and other parish and town councils in the borough, have until now not reflected the true commercial cost of delivering this service.
“Ansa intends to work with Nantwich Town Council to introduce this increase on a phased basis over a number of years and it is hoped that Nantwich Town Council will find that the rates being proposed are competitive and that the service is of a high standard.
“Ansa also intends to offer advice to the council on the most cost-effective way of maintaining the many hanging baskets and flower beds that enhance the town environment each year.
“Nantwich is a wonderful place and a great example of community spirit and engagement, with members of the community constantly striving to create a beautiful town centre environment, with the provision of hanging baskets and planters.
“It is one of Cheshire East’s colourful destination towns, and the council – and Ansa – wish to continue to play our part in making the town attractive to the thousands of visitors it receives.”
I’d certainly prefer it was put to tender than to just abandon the idea of planting them or maintaining them – having Nantwich bloom is part of the appeal not only for residents but also for tourism; it’s part of the town’s identity, it’s heritage, and I’d say it’s certainly worth the effort and money.
Cllr Moran who commented, put it out to tender next year isn’t he a Director of ANSA ?
although they do look lovely I am sure there are lots of plants that don’t need so much watering may be time to change the selection on display, as this cost is not worth a few short weeks of expensive colour