Parish Council Meeting Minutes
MEETING OF CHOLMONDELEY & CHORLEY PARISH COUNCIL HELD AT SCHOOL FARM, CHOLMONDELEY ON 24 SEPTEMBER 2019
| PRESENT: | Councillor A D Fennell (In the Chair) Councillor C Farquharson Councillor R Keyes Councillor C Nickson | Councillor C Hopley Councillor S Langton Councillor P Probin |
| IN ATTENDANCE: | Borough Councillor W S Davies Chris Baker (Candidate for co-option) | Alan Gresty (Candidate for co-option) |
| ABSENT: | Councillor P Winward |
33 DECLARATION OF INTERESTS
Members were asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary interest or non-pecuniary interest which they had in any item of business on the agenda, the nature of that interest, and in respect of disclosable interests, to leave the meeting prior to the discussion of that item.
Councillors C Baker and C Farquharson each declared a disclosable pecuniary interest in planning application No. 19/4285N on the basis that they each lived next door to the application site.
No other declarations were made by Members at this point in the proceedings.
34 MINUTES
34.1 RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting held on 23 July 2019 be approved as a correct record.
34.2 Matters Arising
Minute No. 14 – Operation Shield
It was noted that Councillor Crossley would issue an e-mail to PC Nicky Berry about this matter.
35 PUBLIC QUESTION TIME
In accordance with the Council’s Standing Orders, members of the public were able to ask a question or make a statement.
There were no members of the public in attendance.
36 CO-OPTION
Members noted the current membership of the Parish Council as follows:
| Surname | First Name | E – Elected C – Co-opted | Parish Represented |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crossley | Christine | E | Cholmondeley |
| Farquharson | Claire | C | Chorley |
| Fennell | Tony | E | Chairman |
| Hopley | Chris (Kit) | E | Cholmondeley |
| Keyes | Roger | C | Cholmondeley |
| Langton | Sarah | E | Cholmondeley |
| Nickson | Chris | C | Chorley |
| Probin | Phil | E | Cholmondeley |
| Winward | Philip | C | Cholmondeley |
The Parish Council comprised six seats for Cholmondeley and five for Chorley. There were two seats remaining, both of which were for Chorley Parish.
The following candidates had expressed an interest in joining the Parish Council and were in attendance.
- Chris Baker
- Alan Gresty
Each candidate explained their reasons for wishing to become a parish councillor, following which the nominations were moved and seconded and voted upon.
RESOLVED: That Chris Baker and Alan Gresty be co-opted onto the Parish Council with immediate effect to represent the Chorley parish.
(Note: Each candidate signed a Declaration of Office which required them to be bound by the Code of Conduct.)
37 BUDGET 2020-2021
The Parish Council considered the draft budget for 2020-2021. A final budget would be submitted to the November 2019 meeting for approval.
The following documents formed the basis of the discussion.
Receipts and Payments statement for the period 1 April 2019 – 30 June 2019.
Budget monitoring for the same period.
Report explaining how the budget was prepared. In view of the confusionwhich arose during Public Question Time at the July meeting, the Clerk had provided a full explanation of how the revised estimates to 31 March 2020 impacted potential spend to the end of the current financial year and also on the budget for the next year.Members were able to ask questions about the proposed budget. The only change made was to include a sum of £1,800 for ‘DNA’ identification.
The Parish Council would approve a final budget at its meeting on 26 November 2019.
38 NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN STEERING GROUP
Steering Group Members reported on the open day consultation event held on 10 September 2019 in the Castle Tea Rooms, when 60 residents attended. Members reported on the key ‘messages’ to come out of the event which included –
Speeding traffic in the parish.
Potholes.
Bus service provision operated by Transport Service Solutions.
Transport requirements; reference was made to the community bus, which was operatedby the Cholmondeley Estate, but access to it appeared to be restricted.
Heavy commercial vehicles from Wrenbury to Cholmondeley: inadequate passing spacefor vehicles on the road and the remedy might be to explore the possibility of a weightlimit.
Website: There was insufficient information on the website which was not helpful to new residents. It needed to include social media access.
Arising out of discussion, Councillors Baker and Nickson undertook to review the website and report to the November meeting.
39 AUTHORISATION OF PAYMENTS
RESOLVED: That the following payments be authorised:
| £160.00 | JDH Business Services Ltd. – Internal Audit of accounts 2018-19 (£95.20 net and £19.04 VAT) |
| £311.00 | HMRC – Tax on Clerk’s salary |
| £40.00 | HMRC – Tax/NI on the Clerk’s salary |
| £365.70 | Andrew Latham – Reimbursement for expenditure associated with the Neighbourhood Plan consultation event on 10 September 2019 |
40 BOROUGH COUNCILLOR W S DAVIES
Councillor W S Davies reported on developments which had been introduced following the political change in administration at Cheshire East Council.
41 PLANNING MATTERS
The Parish Council was invited to comment on the following planning application.
| 19/4285N | Bank House Farm, Nantwich Road, Chorley CW5 8JR Development of an equestrian premises to include the erection of stables and a tack/storeroom, ancillary hard standing, a horse arena and the change-of-use of an existing agricultural building to stables. |
RESOLVED: That the Parish Council comment as follows:
If being used for a business, the access is inadequate in terms of highway safety.
Notes: (a) Councillors C Farquharson and C Nickson, each having declared a disclosable pecuniary interest in this application, withdrew from the meeting prior to discussion of the application and re-joined the meeting after the resolution had been passed;
(b) Councillor C Baker declared a disclosable pecuniary interest in this application, on the basis that he lived next door to the application site and he too withdrew from the meeting prior to discussion of the application and re-joined the meeting after the resolution had been passed.
42 SHARED ITEMS
Members are invited to share information, or request items to be included on the next agenda. Issues raised included the following.
- Resident had asked for a 30-mph speed limit
- Cholmondeley Bowling Club
43 DATE OF NEXT MEETING
26 November 2019