MICKLE TRAFFORD & DISTRICT PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
HELD ON
MONDAY 12 JANUARY 2015AT 6.30PM - MICKLE TRAFFORD VILLAGE HALL
Open Forum
6members of the public attended the meeting with 3 requesting to speak
The Chairman advised the meeting that as from the 31st March 2015 the Mickle Trafford and District Parish Council would be dissolved and would not be reformed until after the elections in May.
In the interim period financial matters would be looked after by the Clerk and clarification was being sought over matters relating to Planning.
Mrs Lillian Ancliff
Mrs Ancliff expressed her concerns that the bus service from the Carvery in Hoole was unreliable; there was also a large fare discrepancy between getting on the bus ion Hoole and getting a bus from the Chester side of Hoole roundabout.
Mrs Ancliff also felt that the bus should occasionally go via the hospital as this would be beneficial to many residents
Mrs Barbara Sperring
Mrs Sperring thanked the Parish Council for the support it had given to the campaign to stop the development by Hoole Lawn Tennis Club even though permission had eventually been given.
Mr Steve Allman
Mr Allman thanked the Parish Council for their effort that was being made to hold a community meeting on Fracking in March.
Mr Allman asked if, following the recent meeting held by ChALC, there had been any views expressed on Fracking and also had the Parish Council been advised of anything recently in relation to Fracking
The chairman stated that as circulated following the last meeting ChALC do not have a view on Fracking and any decisions will be left to individual Parish Councils.
Cllr Parker, as Ward Councillor, and the Clerk commented that there had been no further developments in the Parish Council area in relation to anything related to Fracking.
POLICE UPDATE
Constable Boulton advised that over the next month he hoped to have both the SID unit deployed more in the area and would be doing enforcement along with his colleagues.
Residents should be aware that people had been seen trying car doors in the area around Mickle Trafford.
There had been a report of sheep being worried in the area of Meadow Lea farm.
The Chairman then closed the Open Forum
PRESENT
Cllr Roger Parkin - in the Chair,Cllr Barbara Harrison, Cllr Les Bartley, Cllr Andrew Merrill; Cllr Jean Woods,
Cllr DavidRowland’s, Cllr Ian Jones, Cllr B Ancliff, Cllr Wendy Faulkner, Cllr John Jackson, Cllr John Taylor,
Cllr Margaret Parker, Cllr P Blackman, Cllr G Nicholas and Cllr Alan Gardiner.
Clerk:- Mr D Bowker
Item 01Apologies
Apologies were received from Cllr Dorothy Opyd (Abroad), Cllr Fran Mitchell(Business)
Item 02Declarations of Interest
All councillors declared their interests as per their “Notification of Interests”
Village Hall – Cllr Parker
Item 03Approval of Parish Council Minutes.
RESOLVED – The Minutes of the PC meetings held on 10 November2014 were then approved.
Proposed CllrRowlands, seconded by CllrNicholas. ALL AGREED
Item 04Planning Committee
RESOLVED – the Minutes of the planning committee held on the 1st December 2014 were then proposed for acceptance by Cllr Nicholas, seconded by Cllr Blackman and agreed by ALL.
RESOLVED – the Minutes of the planning committee held on the 5th January 2015 were then noted by the Parish Council and proposed for acceptance by Cllr Nicholas, seconded by Cllr Rowlands and agreed by ALL.
Item 05Finance & General Purposes Committee
RESOLVED – the Minutes of the F&GP committee held on the 1st December 2014 were then proposed for acceptance by Cllr Merrill, seconded by Cllr Harrison and agreed by ALL.
Cllr Merrill thanked Mr Sean Simmonds for the assistance he was providing in relation to Speedwatch
RESOLVED – the Minutes of the F&GP committee held on the 5th January 2015 were then noted by the Parish Council and proposed for acceptance by Cllr Merrill, seconded by Cllr Ancliff and agreed by ALL.
At this point the Chairman asked the Chairman of the F&GP Committee to propose the precept recommendation that had been agreed at the meeting on the 5th January (See Agenda Item 9)
It was proposed by Cllr Merrill, seconded by Cllr Harrison that the recommendation of the F&GP Committee for a precept of £29K be accepted for the financial year 2015/16.
The chairman asked if there were any amendments to the proposal and
It was proposed by Cllr Rowlands, seconded by Cllr Ancliff that the precept for 2015/16 should be £26K
Cllr Rowlands put forward his views on why the precept could be reduced and several councillors also made comments.
A vote was taken on the amendment which showed 2 For, 13 Against and no abstentions.
PROPOSAL REJECTED
A vote was then taken on the original proposal with 13 For, 1 Against and 1 abstention.
PROPOSAL APPROVED.
Item 06Youth and Community Development Committee
RESOLVED – the Minutes of the Y&CD committee held on the 3rd December 2014 were then proposed for acceptance by Cllr Merrill, seconded by Cllr Rowlands and agreed by ALL.
It is intended that the path in the Park will be completely resurfaced in the next few months but the Park will have to be shut for three weeks so that the work can be carried out safely.
Item07Gowy Liaison Committee
RESOLVED – the Minutes of the Gowy Liaison committee held on the 4th December 2014 were then proposed for acceptance by Cllr Harrison, seconded by Cllr Woods and agreed by ALL.
The Clerk advised the meeting that the site was now operating a much lower levels and this had resulted in reduced operating hours.
Further discussion was continuing with CWaC with regard to the site being operational till 2022.
Cllr Blackman asked any action was being taken regarding the trees that had been damaged in the Jubilee Wood.
Cllr Parkin advised that he was in discussion with the Woodland Trust about replacements and also with the site manager, Mr Mike Hughes, about providing some protection until the trees became established.
Certificates issued by the Jubilee Woods project, through the Woodland Trust, will be displayed at the School, Village Hall and the Noticeboard on the site.
Item 08Dissolution of Mickle Trafford and District Parish Council – March 2015
Further to the comments made by the Chairman earlier the Clerk advised that the F&GP and Planning Committees would
not meet in April or May but the Annual Parish Meeting would go ahead on the 13th April as planned.
An extra F&GP meeting may be scheduled for the end of March should the committee decided it is needed.
Clarification with relation to Planning Applications is still being sought but the Clerk confirmed that Advance Warning of applications would still be forwarded and individuals could comment.
At this point the meeting was suspended for 12 minutes to allow Constable Rob Boulton to speak.
Item 09Budget 2015/16 (Recommendation by F&GP Committee)
(See Item 5)
Item 10Speedwatch
See comments made by Constable Boulton about actions.
We have also asked Constable Boulton for his comments about the possible breaking of the Weight Limits on Ince Lane following information received from the Speed survey.
Item 11Village Hall Trustees
The minutes of the last meeting had been circulated to all councillors.
Item 12Events working group
The Christmas event had taken place successfully and particular note was made about how good the decoration was on the Christmas tree. It was also recorded that the event on the Sunday in the Village Hall had attracted many new residents who had not previously visited the Village Hall.
Disappointment was expressed that, as good as the event had been at the Methodist Church, the late notice given that the Hall could not be used for refreshments, on Health and Safety grounds, had left many disappointed.
Item 13Community resilience
Cllr Taylor has now completed a 32 page document which has been forwarded to the relevant CWaC department for their consideration and approval. It was noted that Cllr Parker had resilience in her portfolio of responsibilities.
Item 14Neighbourhood Plan
The launch event has taken been a success and a further event will take place for more members of the community to give their views in late January/early February.
Information from the events will be available for the community through H&B, possibly Facebook and the Parish website.
Item 15Village Hall (VAT Reclamation)
Although discussion again took place on this subject the Clerk advised that as agreed at previous meeting details had now been forwarded to Mitchell Charlesworth and we were awaiting their views
Item 16Recording of meetings
Recording of meetings is now quite a common practice at many public meetings and at this time the Council do not have a policy relating to this subject.
It was proposed by Cllr Rowlands, seconded by Cllr Taylor and agreed by ALL that a motion should be passed at the start of any meeting should anybody wish to record.
Item 17 Matters raised at the discretion of the Chairman (Not for resolution)
Cllr Parker
Public Meeting - Coal Bed Methane and Shale Gas Extraction
The meeting will be going ahead on either the 4th, 11th or 18th March
It will be held in the Village hall and will be restricted to 100 residents who live in the Parish.
It will start at 7.30pm, with the first hour being the two presentations and the second hour for Q&A
Speakers will be confirmed shortly.
Cllr Nicholas
Did the Ward councillor have any further information about the application by the travellers at Plemstall Lane.
Cllr Parker asked the Clerk to answer the question
If CWaC follow the same process as they have in other applications relating to temporary sites then the application will be rejected.
If the application rejected this will give the travellers the opportunity to Appeal.
We have been advised that CWaC are aware of the number of travellers covered by temporary permissions and pitches will be held open at either Winsford or Ellesmere Port once the legal process is complete.
Mrs Ancliff
Whilst she appreciates that the defibrillator is located at the Police station it would be beneficial if local groups could be also trained to administer CPR.
Cllr Taylor sated that he advised nay local groups that he would be willing to train people in both CPR and the usage of the Defibrillator but his offer had yet to be acted upon.
Cllr Faulkner advised that all year 6 pupils are given this training.
Item 18Date and Time of next Parish Council Meeting
The date and time of the next Parish Council meeting will be Monday 10th March 2015at the Village Hall commencing at 6.30pm
Meeting closed at 20.02pm
Signed...... Dated......
Prepared by Derek Bowker
13th January 2015
No:2015/03
Page 1