Agenda and minutes

The Chair, Councillor Kim Snape, welcomed everyone to the meeting. 

Decision: That the minutes of the meeting held on 18 October 2018 be confirmed as a correct record. 

It was noted that a training session is available to all Town and Parish Councils on Monday, 12 November from 6pm on the Central Lancashire Local Plan review.  A session will also be held prior to the next meeting on Wednesday, 16 January 2019. 

Cathryn Filbin, Democratic and Member Services Officer will attend to present this item. 

The purpose of this item is to give clarity to the electoral review process of Chorley Council which is being undertaken by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England.

Members of Chorley Liaison received a briefing note which provided information on the electoral review of Chorley Council and the next steps in the process.

On 6 November 2018, the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) is expected to publish its draft recommendation for the new borough warding arrangements.  It also signals the start of a second consultation on those draft recommendations.  The publication of draft recommendation will be the first time the LGBCE will detail its preferred warding arrangements for Chorley.

Members of the Liaison were encouraged to participate in the consultation process which runs until 14 January 2019.  Even if a parish or town council approved of the draft recommendations it was important that this approval was conveyed to the LGBCE with additional supporting evidence.  Otherwise the LGBCE may receive compelling evidence that the recommendation should be changed.

During discussion it was clarified that: -

·         The LGBCE was conducting the review including the consultation, and as such all representations should be sent to the LGBCE direct;

·         The review was instigated by the LGBCE and not one Chorley Council requested;

·         Parish/town council boundaries would not change as part of the electoral review;

The final recommendations will be announced in March 2019; no further consultation will take place.  Whole of Council elections will be held on the new warding arrangements in May 2020.

NB: Since the meeting, the LGBCE has informed Chorley Council that the final recommendations will be announced on 26 March 2019 instead of 12 March as detailed in the briefing note. 

Decision: That the update be noted.

Carol Gore, Planning Obligations Officer, Chorley Council, will attend to

·         go through the information document previously issued and offer clarification where requested

·         explain the CIL reporting procedures (again, following on from issuing example report templates)

·         explain Chorley Councils role in monitoring Parish CIL spend.

·         perform an exercise with the Cllrs regarding potential projects they are considering (see below)

Exercise:

For Councillors to bring one project each to the meeting that they are considering funding from their CIL allocation (it doesn’t have to be committed or fully planned project – blue sky thinking is accepted!)

I will take them through the “Ascertaining CIL Expenditure” guidance questionnaire (attached) to offer them a practical exercise in how to use the questions to ascertain the suitability of a project for the allocation of CIL funding.

Carol Gore, Planning Obligations Officer, gave a presentation which outlined the requirements of the CIL Regulations.

The Charging Authority (Chorley Council) will pass accumulated funds to the Local Council every six months, and the Local Council are required to report on the receipts and expenditure each year.

Local Councils must spend the levy on infrastructure needed to support the development of their area, or any part of that area, and will decide what infrastructure is needed. The levy is intended to focus on the provision of new infrastructure and should not be used to remedy pre-existing deficiencies in infrastructure provision unless those deficiencies will be made more severe by new development.

The meeting considered guidance on how to select projects eligible for CIL and the annual reporting requirements. 

Members noted that a higher CIL portion would be available to local Councils if they had a Neighbourhood Plan in place.  The Plan requires a referendum and the involvement of local residents. 

There is the potential to join together with other local Councils and Chorley Councils on a CIL project, in particular the Neighbourhood Area projects.  In areas where there is no local Council the Neighbourhood Area Meeting determines the relevant CIL spend. 

Decision: That the update be noted.

Due to budget constraints and the Council’s drive to online services as a preferred method to view information and request services, paper copies of the planning weekly list will no longer be sent to Parish Councils from 1 April 2018.

We will continue to offer Parish Council’s assistance with broadband installation, training in digital skills, extended electronic circulation of the weekly list and equipment loans to assist with the migration to digital services.

Parish Clerks will receive a letter and questionnaire that will need to be completed and returned by 16 November. Paper questionnaires will be sent out, however there will also be an option of completing the questionnaire digitally should it be preferred.

This questionnaire will allow us to understand how Parish Councils currently view the weekly list to enable us to work with parish councils to make the migration as smooth as possible.

Chris Sinnott, Director (Early Intervention and Support), advised that due to budget constraints and the Council’s drive to online services as a preferred method to view information and request service Parish Clerks will receive a letter and questionnaire to help the Council understand how Parish Councils currently view Planning information.

The Council will continue to offer Parish Council’s assistance with broadband installation, training in digital skills, extended electronic circulation of the weekly list and equipment loans to assist with the migration to digital services.

Members raised issues relating to a lack of printing facilities, in particular A3 and issues with broadband provision.  Anderton Parish Council are no longer receiving the weekly list electronically - this will be investigated. 

Decision: That the update be noted.

Update on Ironman UK 2019

Could the meeting please have a formal update on what has happened and/or is likely to happen given concerns were expressed by several different parishes, not just Heath Charnock.

CC Keith Iddon has advised that Lancashire will not be hosting the Ironman UK event next year.

The meeting noted that CC Keith Iddon has advised that Lancashire will not be hosting the Ironman UK event next year.  Members were pleased with this outcome.

Levels of policing and response in rural areas: support for greater attention to be given to rural matters.

Speed limits on rural roads: making roads safer in villages like Bretherton.

Gwyneth Lloyd, Bretherton Parish Council, reported issues with drug use around a play area in the village. 

Members noted the difficulties faced by the Police with resources and noted the importance of reporting any issues to the Police to enable them to map any trends.  The involvement of the Youth Zone in engaging young people and reducing anti-social behaviour was discussed and the potential to invite a representative of the Youth Zone to a future meeting. 

Decision: That the Democratic Services Officer write to the Police, outline the issues raised and request that a representative attend the next meeting.

Gwyneth Lloyd raised an issue in relation to speeding in the village, which has been compounded as the local school no longer has a crossing person.  The school children have given a presentation to the Parish Council and the information within it has been provided to LCC and the Police.

Members suggested this issue as a future Neighbourhood Area project, potentially to request that the road be reduced to a 20mph speed limit and to continue to lobby CC Keith Iddon.  It was noted that the bend by the school makes the use of speed traps difficult. 

Decision: That the issues be noted and discussed with the Police at the next meeting.

In order to allow members of the Liaison and members of the public to raise issues of local concern, a period of 20 minutes has been set aside.

A member of the public may speak for no more than 3 minutes.  Members of the public are not required to give notice of the issue they intend to raise, although it is expected in the case of service issues that the appropriate mechanisms for resolving the issue have been explored. 

Where a question is raised which cannot be answered at the meeting, a record will be kept by officers supporting the meeting and it will be responded to via the appropriate mechanism.

Terry Dickenson, Wheelton Parish Council, queried if any venues were available to hire for two evenings.  Anne Peet, Croston Parish Council, indicated she could assist with the query. 

A schedule setting out deadlines for items to be requested on the agenda for the Chorley Liaison and dates for future meetings is enclosed. 

Councillor Alistair Bradley, Executive Leader, noted that Lancashire Constabulary are trialing the use of control room operatives specifically by area.  The use of community volunteers was also raised.  It would be useful for the representative from Lancashire Constabulary to cover this during the discussions at the next meeting.