U N S I G N E D

MICKLE TRAFFORD AND DISTRICT PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 8 SEPTEMBER 2008

Present: Mrs W G Faulkner – in the chair Mr T L Bartley, Mr R Brace, Mr I S Jones, Mrs J A Woods, Mrs B A Harrison, Mr D K Rowlands, Mr J H Taylor, Mr B T Ancliff, Mr J Walsh, Mrs E A Mottram, Mrs F Mitchell, Mrs J A Simmonds, Mr R E Parkin, Mr J A Gardiner, Mr J N Jackson, Mrs M P Parker, Mr T R Law Mrs S M Chamberlain – Clerk to the Council Members of the public – 4 plus Mr A Storrar –CWAC Councillor

Open Forum No questions.

Apologies:– Mr M Peate - family business (not present Mr J G Nicholas)

Declaration of Interest – Mr J Taylor – The Cedars (Personal), Mrs M P Parker, Mrs W G Faulkner, Mrs E A Mottram – Trafford Mill, Mr D K Rowlands – Father to Huw Rowlands and adjacent landowner to The Cedars

Approval of Minutes Acceptance of the circulated Minutes of the meeting held on 14 July 2008 was proposed by Mr D K Rowlands and seconded by Mrs E A Mottram. All were in favour. At this point Mrs E A Mottram referred to the Gowy North Area Committee grant which had been applied for to cover the cost of road signs erected advising of the Community Speedwatch. As Cheshire County Council have paid for these signs it has been agreed with Anne Lancaster of Gowy North Area Committee that the grant of £250 should still be awarded to the Parish Council and that it be used to cover the cost of recalibrating the speed gun for 2008 (£120) and that the balance (£130) be used for recalibration in 2009.

Planning Acceptance of the circulated Minutes of the meetings held on 4 August 2008 and 1 September 2008 was proposed by Mr R Brace and seconded by Mr I S Jones. All were in favour.

Gowy Liaison Meeting Acceptance of the circulated Minutes of the meeting held on 4 September 2008 was proposed by Mr D K Rowlands and seconded by Mrs B A Harrison. All were in favour.

FINANCE I. Authorisation of the accounts for the periods ended 31 July and 31 August 2008 was proposed by Mrs B A Harrison and seconded by Mr R E Parkin. All were in favour. II. Increase of the Park Orderly’s wage to £5.80 per hour with effect from 1 October 2008 was proposed by Mr T L Bartley and seconded by Mrs E A Mottram. All were in favour. III. Authorisation to Devaprint to reprint “2000 Years in Mickle Trafford” was proposed by Mr R E Parkin and seconded by Mr B T Ancliff. All were in favour. IV. Mr J H Taylor proposed that the Parish Council give funding up to a maximum of £100 to the Webmaster for a programme to improve the Website. This was seconded by Mr J Walsh. All were in favour. Mr J H Taylor and Mr M Peate are to discuss with the Webmaster the programmes available. V. The sum of £5,287 required by the Community Centre Group is to pay for planning and architects fees when they arise. The group have already received funding of £4,000 towards this cost and are seeking the balance from the Parish Council. The Parish Council have not budgeted for this in 2008/09 and the Community Centre Group have not had to pay this bill to date. Should the need arise to pay these fees before the end of March 2009 then the money could come from the £10,000 already set aside with budgeting for it being made in the 2009/10 year to cover. This was proposed by Mr D K Rowlands and seconded by Mr J Walsh. All were in favour. VI. Nothing further was required by the Parish Council from Cheshire County Council’s Parish Small Grants Scheme for Countryside Access Improvements. Support of Huw Rowlands project with his new permissive pathway project was proposed by Mr J H Taylor and seconded by Mrs E A Mottram. VII. No further kissing gates are required. Village Hall As an urgent item this was introduced at this time. Mr T L Bartley had advised the Clerk of the need for emergency repairs to the roof of the Village Hall as water is now pouring through the back into the rifle range and could effect the electrics as well as flooding the room. Mr Bartley has arranged for a roofing company to call on the 10 September 2008 to inspect this. It has to be taken into account that there is asbestos in the roof and this requires a special licence to be dealt with, however, there is still the need to obtain at least 2 quotes (preferably 3) for the cost of repair etc. It may be possible to make a claim against the insurance company for these repairs and Mr J H Taylor has agreed to contact Reverend Hart and John Dernie, the Treasurer, to check the insurance policy which is held by the Parochial Church Council. Mr D K Rowlands proposed that the Finance and General Purposes subcommittee be allowed to authorise any cost payable by the Parish Council. This was seconded by Mrs B A Harrison and all were in favour.

Cheshire West and Chester (CWAC) Area Workings Councillor Andrew Storrar gave a brief overview of what he considers an Area Programme Board (APB) to be. An APB is representation for the new Local Government Reorganisation with 2 elected members and representatives from Parish Councils, Primary Care Trusts, the Police, Fire Service, Religious Organisations and other businesses. The elected members could easily be out voted by the others. Funding for this could be by any interested party and this could result in them having more control than acceptable. The purpose of an APB is to develop Area Action Plans based on neighbourhood priorities and report the findings or make recommendations to the CWAC Executive. Mrs M P Parker advised that neither Chester City Council nor, she believed, Cheshire County Council are happy with either Proposal A or B of the consultation document. Mr D K Rowlands suggested that the Parish Council say no to both options and suggest that CWAC stay with the 3 current Local Strategic Partnerships and that they build on them. Mr B T Ancliff observed that the Parish Council should go with which ever option does not incur additional expense for the taxpayers. It was noted that Proposal A could be reviewed in 2 years but Proposal B would be in force for 15 years. As neither option seemed to be suitable and also the lack of information available, it was decided that the consultation form would not be completed but a letter would be sent instead. This was proposed by Mr J H Taylor and seconded by Mr D K Rowlands.

John Boughton Award and Cheshire World Rural Women’s Day – No nominations were taken from the Parish Council

Energy Consumption – It was decided that a meeting of the Community to discuss reducing our energy consumption and becoming a greener Community was not needed. A better way of drawing residents attention to energy saving would be to put small items in the Newsletter.

QPC Representatives – It was decided that Mr J Walsh and Mr D K Rowlands would be the main representatives with Mrs M P Parker being the reserve.

Meetings: Community Pride Award – 25 September 2008 - Mrs W G Faulkner and Mrs S M Chamberlain will attend. Cheshire County Council ‘s Garden Party – 30 September 2008 – Mrs M P Parker and Mr R E Parkin will attend. ChALC Annual meeting – 23 October 2008 – Mr D K Rowlands will attend Low Carbon Communities Network – 4 October 2008 – Mr D K Rowlands will attend. ChALC organised session on Area Working Board – 16 September 2008 – Mr D K Rowlands and Mrs M P Parker will attend No Parish Councillors wish to apply for the place as a Parish Council Representative on CWAC Shadow Authority.

Parish Surgeries 27 September 2008 – Mrs E A Mottram and Mrs B A Harrison 25 October 2008 – Mrs E A Mottram and Mr D K Rowlands 29 November 2008 – Mrs M P Parker and Mr J Walsh

The meeting concluded at 8.40pm.

Date and time of next meeting – 11 November 2008 at 7.30pm at the Village School

Signed...... Prepared by Sue Chamberlain 9 September 2008

Dated...... No: 2008/26