A ROW erupted over who should foot the bill for cleaning up the high streets in Frinton and Walton.

Frinton’s iconic Connaught Avenue was once the pride of Tendring and hailed as the Bond Street of the East Coast.

But town councillors say it has descended into a “disgusting” state and needs a major clean-up, along with Walton High Street.

Cleaning the two high streets could come with a price-tag of about £7,500.

Councillor Nick Turner wanted the town council to contribute £500 towards the cost, with Tendring Council picking up the rest of the bill.

But others said the district council should foot the entire bill.

Terry Allen said: “Our residents pay their taxes for this. Through taxes our residents have already made a huge contribution to the council.

“They are already entitled to these services and we shouldn’t have to dip into our pockets for it.”

He added: “I think it is a real cheek. It is disgusting.

“We shouldn’t even consider this. It is the district council’s responsibility to provide it.”

Walton councillor Delyth Miles said they should look at more creative ways of spending the cash.

“At the moment the two high streets are an absolute disgrace - they are in a disgusting state,” she said.

“As councillors we have a responsibility to our towns to provide high streets they can be proud of.

“I think it’s about time we started looking at more innovative ways of getting this done.

“One option could perhaps be for the district council to use that £7,500 to employ a part-time street cleaner.”

Other councillors agreed with Mr Turner and said the town council should contribute to kick start the project. And several implored shopkeepers to take more pride in their high streets and help clean pavements outside their stores.

Iris Johnson said: “Many years ago I remember shopkeepers having pride in what was in front of their shops.

“They would clean the street to help encourage people inside, but you don’t see that anymore and that has contributed to this situation.

“We know the business owners need help at this time, but they could help themselves by giving the pavement outside their shops a regular quick clean.

“It doesn’t cost anything, just a bit of hard graft.”

The proposal to contribute £1,000 to the costs was rejected after a vote.

A disappointed Nick Turner said: “I thought this council might back me and take a lead in looking after our community.

“We have to start somewhere and this could have been a chance for us to take a lead and help make our towns better.”

This story should have appeared on Page 5 of this week's Frinton and Walton Gazette but was omitted because of a printing error beyond our control.
We would like to apologise to our readers for any confusion and inconvenience caused. An expanded version of the article will be published in next week's Frinton and Walton Gazette.