Shropshire Council 'treating village like a poor relation'
Parishioners have hit out at Shropshire Council for treating their village like "a poor relation".
Councillor Ralph Cooper, chairman of Weston Rhyn Parish Council, has fumed about the local authority's treatment of the village.
He claims the authority has ignored repeated calls for road safety improvements as well as failing to include the parish council in any talks surrounding service cuts and what services may be devolved to them.
He said: "Weston Rhyn Parish Council believes that Shropshire Council does not know where Weston Rhyn is. I'm totally disgusted by the raw deal Weston Rhyn gets from Shropshire Council.
"We have no communication from them, we haven't been invited to any meetings regarding what services may be devolved to parish councils," said Councillor Cooper.
"We get a feeling of why should we cooperate with them if they don't cooperate with us?"
Councillor Cooper has voiced his frustration that requests for works to be carried out in particular village blackspots have been repeatedly delayed or ignored by Shropshire Council.
"We've had false promises. We've been trying to get flashing lights by the school and a 30mph sign for a while now, and Paul Gradwell (Shropshire Council highways officer) promised it would be done by March 2016, and we're still waiting," he said.
"We've also been shouting out for improvements at the top of the village on the bad bends towards the Wern where there has been a number of accidents, nothing's happened. What frustrates us is that a footpath has been constructed on the outskirts of Gobowen yet our road safety requests are repeatedly ignored. "We feel as though Weston Rhyn is being treated as a second class village, enjoying none of the benefits that Shropshire Council are bestowing upon Gobowen and St Martins."
The parish council chairman has also confirmed it will not be taking over Shropshire Council-owned play areas at Long Croft and Chirk Bank following advice from solicitor as well as a "lack of expertise" and the cost of upkeep such as grass cutting, insurance and regular inspections needing to be carried out on them.
