Macclesfield Forest & Wildboarclough Civil Parish Annual Meeting Held on Thursday 22 March

MACCLESFIELD FOREST & WILDBOARCLOUGH CIVIL PARISH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD AT 8PM ON WEDNESDAY 16 APRIL 2008 AT THE SCHOOL ROOMS, WILDBOARCLOUGH

Present: John Seed (Chairman) Tandy Palmes (Parish Clerk) Marc Asquith, Cheshire County Councillor Irene Belfield Antony Borrow Julian Borrow John Bowler Sheila Bowler Ian Brindle John Cheadle Hilda Gaddum, Macclesfield Borough Councillor Barrie Hardern, Cheshire County Councillor Sue Harrop Maggie Harwood Chris Hirst Mary Hirst Caroline Keightley Jon Mayne Marjorie Railton Greg Robinson Leonie Sellars Peter Sellars Lesley Smetham Elizabeth Topalian John Topalian Marshall Waller Colin Whitehead Denis Whitehead Erica Whitehead

Apologies: David Harrop Fiona Mayne Michael & Jill Richardson Hazel Winder, Peak Park Ranger Inspector Gareth Woods, Macclesfield Neighbourhood Policing Unit

Chairman, John Seed, welcomed everyone to the Meeting.

Approval of Previous Meeting’s Minutes

The minutes from the previous Annual General Meeting were distributed and approved by everyone present and signed off by the Chairman and Parish Clerk.

Election of Chairman Macclesfield Forest & Wildboarclough Civil Parish Annual General Meeting Minutes – 16 April 2008

John Seed wished to remain Chairman of the Parish Meeting, as there were no other nominations for the position. This was proposed by Ian Brindle and seconded by Erica Whitehead.

2 Macclesfield Forest & Wildboarclough Civil Parish Annual General Meeting Minutes – 16 April 2008

Annual Review & Accounts

 Accounts – there had been no financial transactions during the financial year 2007/08. As at the 31.12.07, there was £662.15 within the Meeting’s Account. The funds had achieved £13.88 in interest, leaving a total of £676.03.  Planning – a total of 5 planning applications had been submitted within the Parishes for the year. These were as follows:

Date: 21 March 2007 Location: Five Ashes Farm, Macclesfield Forest Extension of house and conversion of attached stable to domestic use, conversion of part redundant shippon to ancillary domestic use. Decision: GRANTED

Date: 19 June 2007 Location: Midgeley Gate Cottage, Wildboarclough Extend the current Horse ménage where grazing land currently exists. Decision: GRANTED

Date: 19 June 2007 Location: Long Clough Farm, Macclesfield Forest Conversion of outbuildings to residential accommodation. Decision: REFUSED

Date: 6 August 2007 Location: Wickenford Farm, Macclesfield Forest Extension to existing ménage Decision: GRANTED

Date: 21 December 2007 Location: Barn at Midgeley Lane, Wildboarclough Change of use of barn to holiday accommodation Decision: GRANTED

 Roads, Highways & Footpaths

Proposed Diversion of Part of Footpath Macclesfield Forest FP27 around Chambers Farm - Notification had been issued about a footpath currently running through a barn at the property. An Order had now been issued and there had been no objections to this diversion.

Road between the Stanley Arms Pub & A537 Cat & Fiddle Road – following a bad accident on this road, Mr and Mrs Bowler and a lady who had witnessed the accident, Nicky Land, had compiled a petition which had been submitted to our local MP, Sir Nicholas Winterton. He had in turn written to Cheshire County Council who had advised that there were insufficient funds to install a Armco safety barrier on this route. Cheshire County Council had advised the Meeting to write to the local Area Traffic Engineer regarding this road. It was agreed that the Parish Meeting should request for the road to be resurfaced, a speed limit to be put in place and additional warning signage to be installed.

Action: Parish Clerk to write to the local Area Traffic Engineer and to copy the letter to Barrie Hardern, Cheshire County Councillor.

Application for a Restricted Byway between Clough Road and Buxton Road (Owlers Bridge) An application had been made by Natural England as part of the “Discovering Lost Ways” Project to add a restricted byway to the Definitive Map of Public Rights of Way for Cheshire. The Parish Meeting had made representations regarding access rights

and anecdotal evidence via the route. As this is the first application of it’s kind, we are currently awaiting the outcome from Cheshire County Council.

Village Website

Jon Mayne advised the Meeting that he had set up a village website – www.wildboarclough.co.uk. The primary purpose of the website was to supply information regarding the Rose Queen Fete and Fell Race. The website is currently very skeletal with links to existing Parish websites and local history and other limited information. He stated that he was reluctant to make it a “font of all knowledge” as it would be difficult to keep up-to-date.

John Topalian suggested adding planning applications to the website. Action: Parish Clerk to send links to Jon Mayne for inclusion on the website.

The Chair recommended that everyone look at the website, if they had not done so already and thanked Jon Mayne and Greg Robinson for their work.

Upkeep of Millennium Benches

The Parish Clerk asked for volunteers at the Parish Meeting to help maintain the millennium benches, which members of the Parish had worked so hard to have installed.

Maggie Harwood advised that she had the poem off the bench in Wildboarclough and Greg & Janet Robinson had the poem for the Macclesfield Forest bench.

Action: Jon Mayne & Sue Harrop to look after the Macclesfield Forest bench and John Seed to look after the Wilboarclough bench. Maggie Harwood & Greg Robinson are to arrange for the poem to be put back onto the benches.

Should our Parish Meeting become a Parish Council?

Antony Borrow advised everyone of the difference between a Parish Meeting and a Parish Council.

At a Parish Meeting anyone connected with the Parish can attend and anyone who is on the electoral roll can attend and vote. It is a very democratic way of dealing with matters and all those on the electoral roll can vote on each issue. It is the lowest form of government and he hopes to retain it.

A Parish Council is formed by elected delegates and involves a lot of bureaucracy.

He also advised that with a Parish Meeting the Chair and the Clerk carry the weight of the Parish on their shoulders, and therefore the Parish website could be a useful way to exchange information.

John Cheadle stated that he thought it should be kept at grass roots level, however, we require at least two meetings a year.

The Parish Clerk advised that following the AGM an e-mail distribution list would be set up to help keep people informed about matters concerning the Parish.

Lesley Smetham advised that in Gawsworth they have a sub-committee to deal with planning applications. The Chair thought that due to the low amount of applications we receive it would not be worth having such a sub-committee.

Agreed: to keep a Parish Meeting.

Conservation Area – do we want one?

Leonie Sellars asked the Parish Meeting – do we want a Conservation Area?

Following the Parish Plan Meeting a quarter of all suggestions had been concerned with Conservation and Preservation.

She advised that she had contacted the Conservation Department at Peak Park. They had advised that a Conservation Area is an area of special interest, which could be either open spaces, hedges, walls, historical interest or economic background. They look at the area as a whole and seek to maintain the unique character. It also makes sure that any changes are appropriate to the area.

To obtain a Conservation Area, the Peak Park need to carry out an in-depth appraisal, which would then be put out for public consultation.

Leonie suggested that everyone present at the Meeting goes away and talks and thinks about the suggestion for the next meeting and whether we feel that this would be good for Wildboarclough as a part or whole Parish?

Maggie Harwood questioned who would pay for the process. Leonie advised that it would be funded by the Peak Park.

Hilda Gaddum suggested asking a Conservation Office to come to the next meeting.

The Chair emphasised the need to consult with whoever is going to be affected by it if it was decided to proceed.

The Chair thanked Leonie Sellars.

Action: this is to be added to the Agenda for the next meeting & Leonie Sellars is to invite a Conservation Officer to talk about the subject.

Ideas from Parish Plan Meeting

The Chair thanked everyone who had worked on the Steering Group, he then asked the Meeting for their comments on the items raised.

Maggie Harwood voiced her concern about the erosion of tracks such as the Three Shires and the Eagle & Child routes. Ian Brindle advised that the Police used to come up to the area to monitor the situation. Sue Harrop advised that Oven Lane was still being used by trail bikes, 4x4’s and ordinary cars despite prohibitive signage.

The Parish Clerk enquired what times the routes were commonly used. It was advised that they are used most often on Sunday mornings. Chris Hirst asked what penalties were handed out to people misusing these routes?

The Chair thanked Tandy Palmes and Judith Conacher for compiling the list.

Action: the Parish Clerk is to contact the Neighbourhood Policing Unit to see what can be done to stop the misuse of these routes and to see what penalties can be issued.

Any Other Business

 Local Government Changes – Hilda Gaddum advised that elections would be taking place on Thursday 1 May 2008 to form the Shadow East Cheshire Council which would eventually incorporate Cheshire County Council and Macclesfield Borough Council and would come into force in April 2009.

The purpose of the new Council was to save money and to half the number of Councillors required. The new Council would have no effect on our National Park representation.

The Chair thanked Hilda Gaddum, Lesley Smetham and Marc Asquith for attending the Meeting.

 Theft of Heating Oil – Maggie Harwood advised that people were experiencing the theft of their heating oil and she advised everyone to make sure that their tanks were locked to prevent this.

 Plastic Recycling – the Parish Clerk advised that following the last AGM, she had looked into plastic recycling collections within the Parish. She had been advised that it is something that is currently under consideration and would be eventually implemented, however, to date no date had been set.

 Car Crash Debris – Shelia Bowler advised that on the road running from the Stanley Arms Pub up to the A537 Cat & Fiddle Road there was a lot of debris following the numerous accidents that occurred here. She enquired who responsibility it was to clear up after and accident and whether anything could be done about it.

Action: the Parish Clerk is to look into who’s responsibility it is and what can be done about it.

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending the Meeting.

The Meeting closed at 9.30pm.

Date of Next Meeting

The date of the next Parish Meeting is to be held at 8pm on Thursday 16 October 2008 in the School Rooms, Wildboarclough.