CLOTTON HOOFIELD PARISH COUNCIL PARISH COUNCIL MEETING Monday 13th November 2017 at 7:00 pm. in Village Hall, CW6 0HD MINUTES

PRESENT Cllr Chris Prescott – Chairman. Cllr Jacqui Baker Cllr Hazel Davenport Cllr Ellie Platt Cllr Peter Manby Cllr George Sant CW&C Cllr Hugo Deynam Public – Two APOLOGIES. Cllr Stuart Roberts DECLARATION OF INTERESTS. None PUBLIC PARTICIPATION The following points raised, the clerk to follow up as appropriate. 1) Progress on the proposed reduction of the 50 mph speed limit to 40 mph between Iddenshall and the existing 30 mph. 2) Street light out on the A51. MINUTES. 69. Resolved Council accepted the Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 13th November 2017 and were duly signed by the Chairman as a true record. PLANNING. Council noted the circulated Planning Register ACCOUNTS. 70. Resolved Council accepted the circulated Financial Report (below) BUDGET & PRECEPT By councils agreement the agenda items BUDGET & PRECEPT where postponed until the end of the Agenda so that council could consider other agenda items that probably would have financial implications. NEIGHBOURHOOD DEVELOPMENT PLAN. Council noted the Minutes of the meetings held 14th November & 07th December 2017 and were updated by Cllr Manby (NDP Chairman) on his meeting at Iddenshall Grange and the electoral numbers. The clerk to obtain an updated copy of the electoral roll to cross check. It was also noted that West and Council had refused permission for the erection of ‘Neighbourhood Zone’ signs at the entrances to the village. Cllr Deynam to query this. A51 The Chairman reported that members had met with adjacent parish council members, MP Antoinette and proposed further meetings with the Cheshire Local Enterprise Partnership and Highways to explore the possibility of a new road from to Chester and/or the improvement of the A51 with, for instance, a night time ban on HGV’s etc. as introduced elsewhere. (detailed report below) VILLAGE WELL. Council agreed to consult with Cheshire West & Chester Council officers on the work we would be able to do to enhance the appearance of the well outside Well Cottage, Willington Lane, Cllr Sant and the clerk to follow up. VILLAGE FESTIVAL The Clerk reported that little interest had been shown in the idea for a village festival, council agreed that this matter would be included in the next Newsletter to see if there was public interest.

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CLOTTON HOOFIELD PARISH COUNCIL BEST KEPT VILLAGE After considerable discussion Council agreed to consider entering the BKV completion next year following hoped for planned improvements in the village. It was agreed the clerk should organize a Ward Walk with representatives from Highways and Streetscene to highlight the unkempt state of the roads, footways and verges along with the litter problem. It was also agreed to investigate the introduction of litter bins. BUDGET Following debate council Resolved the following budget for the financial year 2018 / 19 RECIEPTS Budget PAYMENTS Precept 5009 Clerk Salary 2600 Year total Receipts 5009 Clerk Mileage 150 Balance b/f 15492 Office Expenses 200 Administration 300 Insurance 200 Website 100 Room Hire 150 Elections 1000 Info. Commissioner 35 Training 200 Subscriptions 150 Miscellaneous 100 ND Plan 5830 Community Projects (Well) 2500 Highways. 3500 Litter Bins 2000 Reserve / Contingency 1318 Year Total 20333 Year Total 20333 Balance

PRECEPT Resolved that council Precept £5009 for the financial year 2018 / 19.

Following the meeting Cllr Deynam reported that he had had an enquiry from a resident of Hoofield requesting if the Parish Council had had any other complaints of speeding in Hoofield, it was agreed that Cllr Deynam invite the resident to join our Neighbourhood Development Planning Group.

The meeting closed at 8.25 pm.

The next meeting 12 March 2018

Signed ………………………………………………… Dated ………………………………………

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CLOTTON HOOFIELD PARISH COUNCIL

Financial Statement January 2018 Receipts No Date Details Res M/P Total Year 10 04 17 CWaCC / Precept 36 16 4841.00 4841.00 10 04 17 CWaCC / Grant 36 16 382.00 382.00 26 05 17 ChALC / Grant 48 24 305.28 305.28 27 06 17 CWaCC / BG Grant 150.00 150.00 104 06 11 17 PC / Training 20.00 101 06 11 17 PC /Training 40.00 102 16 11 17 NMH PC / Training 40.00 103 17 11 17 / training 40.00 140.00 Groundworks / Grant 4390.00 4390.00 31 08 17 Totals 10208.28 10208.28 Receipts Year todate 10208.28 Payments No Date Details Res M/P Power* Total Year 363 11 04 17 Thompson Planning / NDP 48 24 15 157.99 364 08 05 17 H Ackerley / Int. Audit 48 24 10 30.00 365 08 05 17 CaLC / Subscription 55 25 1 122.85 122.85 366 08 05 17 DCWMH / Hall Hire 48 24 9 45.00 367 08 05 17 Thompson Planning / NDP 2 48 24 15 148.79 368 25 05 17 R Salmon / Pay Apr. May 19 7 2 393.08 369 25 05 17 Came & Co / Insurance 56 25 2 168.00 168.00 370 25 05 17 PAYE / 1 19 7 2 39.40 371 03 07 17 Thompson Planning / NDP 3 58 28 15 148.79 372 05 07 17 C Prescott / June Newsletter 58 28 8 150.13 373 10 07 17 DCWMH / Hall Hire / July 58 28 9 15.00 374 21 07 17 R Salmon / Pay Jun. Jul 19 7 2 369.48 375 21 07 17 PAYE / 2 19 7 2 63.00 376 15 08 17 OIC / Information Com. 61 30 11 35.00 35.00 377 05 09 17 Thompson Planning / NDP 4 61 30 15 148.79 378 11 09 17 DCWMH / Hall Hire / Sept 61 30 9 15.00 379 11 09 17 R Salmon / NDP Pens 61 30 15 156.00 R.Salmon / Mileage 61 30 88.20 88.20 R Salmon / Office 61 30 17.04 17.04 R Salmon / Newsletter 61 30 70.00 220.13 380 11 09 17 Hunter Williams / NDP News 61 30 15 30.00 381 11 09 17 Alison Holloway/Display 61 30 15 168.25 382 11 09 17 C Prescott / NDP Material 61 30 15 24.97 383 21 09 17 R Salmon / Pay Aug. Sep. 19 7 2 345.88 384 21 09 17 PAYE / 3 19 7 2 86.60 385 26 09 17 Alison Holloway / Posters 64 32 15 99.57 386 26 09 17 BDO / Audit 64 32 10 30.00 60.00 387 23 10 17 R Salmon / Web Hosting, 64 32 21 68.80 68.80 388 30 10 17 ChALC / Training 64 32 11 337.50 337.50 389 09 11 17 Thompson Planning / NDP 5 64 32 15 111.26 390 09 11 17 Alison Holloway / Prize 64 32 15 30.00 391 09 11 17 DCWMH/Hall Hire/Oct/Oct/Nov. 64 32 9 45.00 120.00 392 27 11 17 R Salmon / Pay Oct, Nov. 19 7 2 392.88 1501.32 393 27 11 17 PAYE / 4 19 7 2 39.60 228.60 394 27 11 17 Thompson Planning / NDP 6 15 117.67 1342.08 VAT 244.59 244.59 31 08 17 Totals 4554.11 4554.11 Payments year todate 4554.11 Balance year todate 5654.17 Balance b/f 12406.99

Bank reconciliation 14 12 17 NatWest (181) 13671.16 Less Payments uncleared Plus Receipts unbanked 4390.00 Balance £18,061.16 £18,061.16 36

CLOTTON HOOFIELD PARISH COUNCIL A51 Report

History

Since 1994 the volume of traffic along the A51 has increased by about 60%.

The A51 was “de-trunked” by the (then Labour) Government in 2001. From that date the road became the responsibility of Cheshire – subsequently & West, shared – who have never had the money or the desire to manage it properly. The current state of the road is testament to this fact.

There is no long-term plan, within either Cheshire East or Cheshire West, to manage the current, or any expected increase in, volumes. There are some proposals to “improve” a few junctions, between and Chester, but it seems to be merely tinkering around the periphery and not tackling the key cause of the problem. In fact, there is a significant risk that any small, short term improvements will actually increase volumes and result in “no change” to the current problems.

There is an additional issue in that CEC and CW&C are at loggerheads about most topics – which includes how to manage roads that cross borders.

Since the de-trunking and the division of Cheshire, there has been no consistency applied to the A51. It is now a road with multi speed limits being applied over very short distances. It has sections in very poor states of repair and some very good sections.

The reason it is used by many is that it is shorter and either quicker or certainly no longer in time to go from the M6 to Chester, the A55, , the M53 or the Wirral. It is also a very reliable road – it is extremely rare for it to be completely blocked – unlike the M6!

The arrival of HS2 is likely to increase, dramatically, the volume of traffic on the A51 and there is no plan to prepare for this.

Actions

23rd October an inaugural meeting of Parish Councils along the A51 was held in Duddon. Many people attended and a good discussion ensued. The notes are in appendix 1. The outcome was general agreement that a new road is needed and that the works currently planned will have little benefit and may even be detrimental. A review with Highways England was proposed.

Last week, Richard Salmon, Jo Kenwright and I had a meeting with Antoinette Sandbach, our MP. Antoinette covers quite a large portion of the A51. She is very concerned that a new road could be quite disruptive and very expensive. She believes that “dualling” the current road would be a cost effective alternative to a completely new road – I don’t agree. Clearly, this would need “considerable compulsory purchase” – words from Antoinette Sandbach herself. Whether anybody thinks this is the most appropriate solution or not a couple of very good points came out of the meeting with Antoinette Sandbach: 1. Until the road is “re-trunked” neither the Government nor Highways England are going to be very interested. This will become clearer after our proposed meeting with Highways England – we are trying to arrange this to take place in the near future. 2. To make this happen, there is a need for both Cheshire East and Cheshire West to petition the government to have the road re-trunked 3. To get this petition to progress it is incumbent upon all those who believe this is a good idea to put pressure on all the Ward Councillors who cover the A51.

I have estimated the cost for a new 20-mile link – please see the plan attached but recognise that all the line shows is, that a possible route could be devised that does not intrude excessively into current communities – from the dual carriageway A500 at to the dual carriageway A55 at Chester, at about £100M. This is higher than a normal road but there are a number of bridges to be built across canals, rivers and railway, and it should be a dual carriageway, this providing a proper “South Cheshire Highway”, so, I hope this is an over-estimate.

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CLOTTON HOOFIELD PARISH COUNCIL However, please be sure to remind all readers/councillors that these are my lines on a piece of paper. These lines have no validity with Cheshire East, Cheshire West, Highways England or anybody who would need to be involved if a new road were to be built.

Antoinette’s support is limited, at present, to having some research and investigation undertaken. Antoinette, also believes that the lowest cost route might be to dual the existing road.

I have written to Philip Cox who is Chief Executive of the Cheshire and Warrington LEP – based in . He has agreed to a meeting, to be set up in the New Year.

Subsequent to the meeting with Ms Sandbach, Richard Salmon, Fran Colton, Chris Prescott and I have met to clarify next steps and who will action these.

Our proposed steps are:

1. Arrange a meeting with Highways England. The objective of this meeting is a. to ascertain if they have any long-term thoughts or plans regarding the traffic volumes and the management of these in the South Cheshire region b. to determine if the most appropriate action is to “re-trunk” the road so that it falls back into Highways England control 2. Attend the proposed meeting with the C&WLEP in Winsford. The objective of this meeting is to a. Understand their view on the future developments both commercially and domestically in the vicinity of the A51 b. Understand their view on the effects of finishing the dual carriageway at the final stretch to the M6 c. Understand the effects of HS2 with regard to increased commercial traffic, on the whole area, including the management of freight from Ireland, North Wales and Liverpool onto rail d. Understand their thinking with respect to the management of passenger traffic to and from the HS2 connection at Crewe 3. Arrange another meeting of all PCs along the A51 to review the outcome of the meetings arranged above. 4. If appropriate, to establish a sub-committee of this group to push and pursue the outcomes of these reviews/meetings. This group may organise a. Petitions b. Ward Councillor meetings c. Press statements d. Radio comments

Finally

Richard Salmon is the co-ordinator and keeper of records for these meetings/reviews and we should all try to keep him copied into any meeting notes, PC minutes (that are relevant) and pass to him all offers of support, help and assistance.

Many thanks.

Matthew Waterhouse Chairman, Calveley Parish Council

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