SENIOR staff at Cheshire East Council (CEC) will soon learn what punishment they face for their part in the Lyme Green recycling centre fiasco.

CEC staffing chiefs have been handed the findings of an independent report into the council’s botched attempt to build the facility near Macclesfield.

CEC were found to have wasted £800,000 of tax payers’ money on the floored scheme, by starting work on the site without first obtaining planning permission.

The council appointed a Designated Independent Person (DIP) to assess what mistakes were made, and by whom.

Specifically, the DIP investigated allegations concerning three as-yet unnamed senior staff members at the council.

The confidential report has been passed to CEC’s staffing sub committee, who are due to meet before Christmas to consider what actions to take in light of its findings.

Senior members of staff implicated in the report are due to learn their fate in the New Year.

CEC leader, clr Michael Jones, said he was pleased with the speed the report had been completed.

He added: “I have always believed that the understandable concerns of the public, and of local councillors, about how this site development was handled must be recognised and dealt with quickly.

“On a personal note, I have been looking forward to this report, and, early in the New Year, the chief executive and I will bring forward our observations on its findings, including the need for a less opaque framework of management accountabilities and for bold service changes to replace poor internal structures and ways of working.”

Clr Jones said CEC had put in place a ‘comprehensive action plan’ to improve council systems and avoid repeats of the Lyme Green incident.

He added that he intended to take ‘swift and robust action’ to improve the council’s management structures.