Agenda and minutes

To appoint a Chairman of the Sub-Committee.

RESOLVED

That Councillor J Crockatt be appointed Chairman of the Sub-Committee.

Councillor Crockatt in the chair.

RESOLVED

That Councillor P Whiteley be appointed Vice-Chairman of the Sub-Committee.

To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any personal and/or prejudicial interests in any item on the agenda

No interests were declared.

In accordance with Procedure Rules Nos.11 and 35 a period of 10 minutes is allocated for members of the public to address the meeting on any matter relevant to the work of the meeting. Individual members of the public may speak for up to 5 minutes but the Chairman will decide how the period of time allocated for public speaking will be apportioned where there are a number of speakers. Members of the public are not required to give notice to use this facility. However, as a matter of courtesy, a period of 24 hours’ notice is encouraged.

Members of the public wishing to ask a question at the meeting should provide three clear working days’ notice, in writing, in order for an informed answer to be given.

There were no questions from members of the public.

The Sub-Committee is asked to discuss the briefing paper which sets out the proposed procedure for conducting the review, having regard to statutory guidance and criteria.

Members received a paper which set out the details of three petitions received in respect of community governance reviews for the Handforth, Wilmslow and Styal area. The paper also outlined the process for conducting a community governance review.

On 21^st September 2009 the Council had received a petition which called for a Community Governance Review and identified the following recommendations arising from a Review:

(1)   That a new parish be constituted under Section 87 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007.

(2)   That the new parish should have a parish council to be known as Handforth Community Council.

(3)   That members of the Council will not be affiliated to any political party.

(4)   That the area to which the review is to relate be defined as being the electoral ward of Handforth as known in 2007.

(5)   That the Council will not precept the area, only use moneys granted, delegated, awarded or given for the benefit of the area. 

Recommendations (3) and (5) were outside the scope of any recommendations which could be considered by the Council as part of the review. The petition had been validated as having been signed by at least 10% of the electorate. On the recommendation of the Committee, Council had agreed to extend the remit of the review to encompass the whole of the unparished area of Wilmslow.

A petition had also been received on 14^th October 2009, calling for a community governance review and identifying the following recommendations arising from a Review:

(1)   That a new parish be constituted under Section 87 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007.

(2)   That the new parish should have a parish council to be known as Wilmslow and Handforth Town Council.

(3)   That the area to which the review is to relate comprise the Electoral Wards of dean Row, Fulshaw, Handforth, Hough, Lacey Green and Morley & Styal.

The petition had since been validated and Council, on the recommendation of the Committee, had agreed to extend the Community Governance Review to cover the whole of the unparished area of Wilmslow (i.e. the former Electoral Wards of dean Row, Fulshaw, Handforth, Hough, Lacey Green, and Morley and Styal.

On 14^th January 2010 the Council had received a petition which called for a Community Governance Review and identified the following recommendations arising from a Review:

(1)   That a new parish be constituted under Section 87 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007

(2)   That the new parish should have a parish council to be known as Styal Parish Council

(3)   That the area to which the review is to relate to be defined as shown on the attached map, being a part of the Electoral Wards of Morley and Styal.

The Governance and Constitution Committee on 21^st January 2010 agreed that the petition be dealt with as part of the Community Governance Review for the whole of the unparished area of Wilmslow. The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The paper sets out the criteria and key considerations for conducting the review. In addition to responding to the proposals contained in the three petitions received, the statutory guidance also indicates that as part of the review, other viable options should be considered to determine if they represent a better option in terms of addressing the criteria. The briefing paper sets out alternative options for discussion.

In conducting the Review, the Council had to consider how to respond to the proposals contained in the three separate petitions. The petitions and the proposals they contained had to be assessed in terms of the criteria and the key considerations as set out in the Guidance.

The guidance also indicated that as part of the review, other viable options should be considered to determine if they represented a better way of addressing the criteria. The Sub-Committee would need to gather further information to make an initial evaluation of the following options:

?       Area Committees

?       Neighbourhood Management

?       Tenant Management Organisations

?       Area/Community Forums

?       Residents’ and Tenants’ Associations

?       Community Associations

?       Multiple Parish Councils

The Review could decide that multiple parish councils would best meet the community cohesion criteria. The presence of geographic boundaries would need to be considered, for example whether they formed natural communities.

RESOLVED

That the requirement to consider other viable options as part of the Community Governance Review be noted and discussed further at the next meeting of the Sub-Committee.

The Sub-Committee is asked to discuss and agree a project plan and timeline for the conduct of the review.

Members considered a Project Plan for conducting the Community Governance Review which set out the tasks involved, responsible officers, timetable and the decision-making process.

RESOLVED

That the Project Plan be approved subject to amendment to reflect changes to the consultation timetable agreed at the meeting.

To agree the dates of future meetings as suggested in the project plan.

RESOLVED

That the next meeting be held on Thursday, 11^th March 2010 at 10.00 am, if possible at the Oakenclough Children’s Centre, Wilmslow.

Note: Following consultation with Members of the Sub-Committee, the next meeting would now be held on Tuesday, 23^rd March 2010 at 3.30 pm at the Oakenclough Children’s Centre, Wilmslow. This was to allow further time for draft documents for the Stage 1 consultation to be prepared for consideration by the Sub-Committee.