Agenda item

Having declared a disclosable pecuniary interest earlier in the meeting, Councillor S Hogben withdrew from the meeting.

The Committee considered a report on the outcome of the final stage of consultation for the review and the results of a ballot of electors in the unparished part of Leighton.

Nine responses to the consultation were received and were appended to the report. The results of the Leighton ballot showed that 85% of respondents were in favour of being included in Leighton Parish.

The Sub-Committee had recommended that the unparished part of the Leighton Borough Ward be included in the adjoining Leighton Parish. The Sub-Committee had left it to the Committee to determine the number of parish councillors for Crewe.

A re-organisation Order was required to be approved by the Council to bring any new arrangements into effect, following the final outcome of the Review. Within this Order, for the purposes of regulation 3 of the Local Government Finance (New Parishes) (England) Regulations 2008, a sum had to be included for the budget for the first year of operation of the new parish council, which could not be exceeded. The Sub-Committee has therefore prepared a draft budget. The draft re-organisation Order and the draft budget were attached as Appendices to the report. In developing the budget figure, consideration had been given to the transfer of assets to the new parish council, having taken into consideration advice from Counsel. The Sub-Committee had recommended that all Council allotments within the unparished area and the public conveniences in Lyceum Square, Crewe should transfer as part of the re-organisation order.     

The minutes of the meetings of the Sub-Committee held on 18^th July 2012 and 4^th September 2012 were appended to the report.                          

In considering the results of the consultation, ballot and recommendations of the Community Governance Sub-Committee, and in formulating its recommendations to Council, Members ensured that the proposed community governance arrangements within the area under review were reflective of the identities and interests of the community in the area; and were effective and convenient.

The Committee was asked to authorise the Sub-Committee to take all necessary actions in preparation for the new Crewe parish council.

RESOLVED

That

(1)  Council be recommended to approve that

(a)        the interests of effective and convenient local government and community identities in the area would be served by the creation of a new parish with a Parish Council for the unparished area of Crewe and that Parish Council be advised to consider its designation as a Town Council;

(b)        having taken into account the representations received, the Parish should be divided into 6 wards for the purposes of election to the Parish Council, such wards to be coterminous with the existing Borough wards (except for Polling District1GM2 of the Crewe South ward which is already parished), with each ward having the number of parish councillors as follows:

(c)        having considered the results of the ballot of electors, the unparished part of the Borough ward of Leighton be included within the Leighton Urban ward of Leighton Parish;

(d)        elections to the Crewe Parish Council be held on 4^th April 2013;

(e)        the public conveniences in Lyceum Square, Crewe be transferred to the new parish council with effect from 1^st April 2013 but Cheshire East Council continue to manage the facilities for the first three months; a sum of £30,000 to be included in the budget for the first year of the parish council to cover the cost of managing these assets; 

(f)         the Council allotments within the unparished part of Crewe be transferred to the new parish council with effect from 1^st April 2013 on the basis of a 150 year lease; a sum of £30,000 to be included in the budget for the first year of the parish council to cover the cost of managing these assets; 

(g)        the draft budget be approved, as attached to the report, subject to the addition of a contingency fund of £100,000, the budget totalling £442,000;

(h)       the draft re-organisation order be updated as required and submitted to Council on 13^th December for approval, following a mini-review of the electoral arrangements for the Parish of Leighton arising from the proposed boundary change to the Leighton Urban Ward;

(2)  the terms of reference of the Community Governance Review Sub-Committee be extended to enable the Sub-Committee to take all necessary actions in preparation for the new Crewe parish council.

At the conclusion of this matter, Councillor S Hogben was invited to return to the meeting.