Agenda: Parish Council meeting on 22 April 2020
Full agenda for the full Parish Council meeting being held remotely on 22 April 2020.
Download a copy of the meeting agenda by clicking here.
Meeting Details
Day/Date: Wednesday 22 April 2020
Time: 7.30 pm
Meeting to be held remotely, via video-link
Platform: Zoom
Access: Please click on the link below to join
Please do not attempt to join the meeting before 7.20 pm as the meeting host may not have opened the meeting.
Notes for members of the public
- This meeting is being held remotely in accordance with regulations made under S.78 of the Coronavirus Act 2020. There are, therefore, no paper copies of the agenda or the accompanying documents.
- All documents (other than those which are restricted) can be accessed from the Parish Council’s website — www.shavingtononline.co.uk.
- On this first occasion of holding a meeting remotely, Public Question Time has been omitted from the agenda; however, it is expected that this can be included on future agendas.
Agenda
1. Apologies
2. Declaration of Interests
Members to declare any a) disclosable pecuniary interest; b) personal interest; or c) prejudicial interest which they have in any item of business on the agenda, the nature of that interest, and in respect of disclosable interests and prejudicial interests, to withdraw from the meeting prior to the discussion of that item.
In these circumstances, the Chairman will control the ‘presence’ of the appropriate Member and give him/her a time slot at which he/she can re-join the meeting.
Members are referred to the Code of Conduct for guidance (issued with the agenda papers for Annual Council on 8 May 2019 and adopted at that meeting).
Whilst the Clerk can advise on the Code of Conduct and its interpretation, the decision to declare, or not, is the responsibility of the Parish Councillor, based on the circumstances.
3. Minutes
To approve as correct records, the Minutes of the following meetings which were previously distributed to Members via email.
- 4 March 2020 Sent 22 March 2020
- 11 March 2020 (Extra-ordinary meeting) Sent 23 March 2020
- 18 March 2020 (Extra-ordinary meeting) Sent 23 March 2020
4. Grant — Shavington Youth Club
At the meeting held on 5 February 2020 the Parish Council made a donation of £2,000 to Shavington Youth Club and agreed to consider making a further grant, at its meeting which was scheduled to be held on 1 April 2020.
As that meeting did not take place, the Council is asked to consider this matter. Information about the purpose of the grant will be forwarded under separate cover.
5. Grant — Shavington Scouts
To consider a request from Shavington Scouts, for a grant of £1,500 to offset its current financial position as a consequence of the Coronavirus pandemic. An email from the Cub and Scout Leader is enclosed.
The Small Grants scheme allows for only £250 to be granted. If approved, the grant will be authorised under S.137 of the Local Government Act, which allows parish councils in England to spend money where there is no other statutory power to spend.
The policy objective is to permit parish councils to incur expenditure on items that are of direct benefit to their area in relation to which no other powers of expenditure exist. Section 137(4) of the 1972 Act provides for limits for such expenditure, and for the method of calculating those limits. The amended section 137(4) specifies that the sum, by which the number of electors in the parish must be multiplied to arrive at the limit for expenditure under section 137, must be calculated by reference to Schedule 12B to the 1972 Act.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has recently notified the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) that the appropriate sum for the purpose of section 137(4)(a) of the Local Government Act 1972 is £8.32 per elector. The electorate for Shavington-cum-Gresty is approximately 4,500 (based on the published registers in December 2018) and this equates to a limit of £37,440.00.
6. 140 Main Road, Shavington
At the meeting held on 4 March 2020, the Clerk was asked to contact Councillor Nick Mannion, Portfolio Holder for the Environment and Regeneration to enquire into Cheshire East Council’s plans for 140 Main Road, Shavington, currently occupied under lease by Shavington Youth Club. Councillor Mannion referred this matter to the CEC Property Services Manager, who phoned the Clerk to discuss the Parish Council’s intentions regarding the building.
The key points in the discussion were as follows:
- Roof repairs to the building will cost approximately £200,000 and the Borough Council is not proposing to use its funds to carry out these repairs, irrespective of whether the Parish Council wishes to take it over as an asset.
- The building could be let on a lease of 30 years, but if the Parish Council wished to request a lease of 99 years, that would be considered.
- In a lease arrangement, the cost of the roof repairs would need to be funded by the Parish Council.
- The lease fee is unknown.
- The Borough Council would not be willing to give up the freehold.
- The Borough Council does not have firm plans for either retention or disposal of the building.
7. Planning Matters
7.1 Planning application notifications (see below) received by the Clerk were forwarded to Members who were asked to make any comments, as individuals, to Cheshire East Council.
20/0513N 45 Ashcroft Avenue, CW2 5HW
Remodelling of existing dwelling to include for removal of garage to Side, extensions to front and side, and internal alterations to layout.
20/0935N Basford West Development, Jack Mills Way
Installation of electrical sub-station, kiosk and feeder pillar, and Two gas meter housings, concrete foundations and associated plant.
20/1045N Land north of Weston Lane, Shavington
Provision of separate vehicular egress and alteration and widening Of existing listed stone gate piers to allow agricultural vehicle access
20/1214N 22 Wessex Close, Shavington CW2 5HX
Single-storey kitchen extension
20/0931N Boughey Distribution, Jack Mills Way
Proposed free-standing lightweight demountable canopy.
7.2 Planning Applications
The Parish Council is invited to submit observations on the following planning applications:
20/1423N Unit 1, Alexandra Business Park, Gresty Lane, CW2 5DD
Proposed warehouse/light industrial frame shed.
Deadline date for observations: 6 May 2020.
20/1511N Unit 4, Crewe Commercial Park, Jack Mills Way, CW2 5TZ
Temporary planning permission for change of use of ancillary Office space to stand-alone B1 office use.
Deadline date for observations: 13 May 2020.
8. Payments
To note that the Clerk has made the following payments by debit card.
- 31 March 2020 £200.92 Scottish Power — Village Hall
- 14 April 2020 £300.00 Nicola Cooper Photography
9. VE Day Celebrations
Although the VE Day celebrations have been cancelled, the Parish Council is asked to consider updated VE Day celebrations to include:
- ‘Stay at Home’ street party.
- Build a scarecrow and post a photo online. There will be no competition, but this will be a means of acknowledging the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
- It is suggested that the designs reflect the 1940s era.
Brave Little Tank will be providing samples of marketing/messaging for illustration.
10. Exclusion of Press and Public
The Council is invited to RESOLVE that in accordance with Paragraph 1 (2) of The Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items owing to the confidential nature of the business to transacted and the public interest would not be served in disclosing that information.
11. Shavington Primary School — Use of car park (S.137 Grant)
(Reason for exclusion: Contractual arrangements between the Parish Council and the Learning for Life Partnership — Shavington Primary School.)
In the absence of reaching agreement in respect of the draft licence provided by the Learning for Life Partnership, the Parish Council is asked to consider making a donation which will cover community use of the car park until 2021.
Members will find it helpful to refer to the documents which were issued with the agenda for the extra-ordinary meeting held on 18 March 2020 and subsequent legal advice provided by Lynne Thornton, Solicitor.
