NB: Annual Parish Meeting 2020 was cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held 27th April 2021 – virtual meeting on Zoom.
Present: Councillor G Morgan who chaired the meeting, Councillor R Hurst, Councillor D Bennett Councillor S Lavin, Councillor A Woodfine – Jones, Councillor D Pochin and the Clerk.
Public: 4 members of the public.
Points raised –
No consultation for neighbours on planning applications e.g., farm workers cottage at Hollins farm.
Suspected breach of planning at The Kennels on Twemlow Lane
Speed of traffic on Twemlow Lane
Dogs’ behaviour when off a lead – sheep attacks and welfare of horses
Litter collecting
Footpath improvement on PROW
Increase in fly tipping in the community.
Thank you to the PC for siding out the footpaths.
Apologies: Cllr L Gilbert and Cllr R Hocknell
Minutes: The minutes from 23rd April 2019 ( the meeting in 2020 had been cancelled ) had been circulated and were signed as a true and accurate record.
Presentation from Ms Lucy Hughes Cheshire Community
Cranage Parish Council had just begun the journey of completing a Neighbourhood Plan and had sent out their first questionnaire. Cheshire Community Action were assisting the Parish Council on completing the Neighbourhood Plan.
Tonight, they were summarising the results from the questionnaire set out to the Parish.
What are Neighbourhood Plans?
– Used to determine planning applications
– Statutory status, they become part of the Local Development Plan – they are a powerful planning document and are being used in the consideration of planning appeals
– They are drawn up by the community themselves, but the parish council is the ‘responsible body’.
– They must focus on land use and development policies
What can be in it?
No fixed template – can have one policy or 100
Normally have a Vision, Objectives, Policies
Policies must be backed up by evidence
Must be realistic and deliverable
Should be distinct to Cranage
What can’t be in it?
– Fracking – Community Events
-Highways Issues – Bus Timetables
– Speeding
– Litter
National Picture
– Over 3000 communities have begun Neighbourhood Plans
– Over 1000 have passed referendum
– Average turn out approx. 32%, average yes vote 88%
Local Picture
– In Cheshire, 96 plans are either made or in progress
– In Cheshire West, 20 have been made
– In Cheshire East 31 have been made.
- 9 referendums taking place next week.
- 1 Neighbourhood Plan review has successfully passed examination and was made this month.
How long will it take?
This will depend on the complexity of the plan – for example will further surveys need to be undertaken?
Will also depend on the number of volunteers and their skill sets.
Funding
Groups are eligible for grants of up to £10 000 from central government, run by ‘Localities’.
Cranage Neighbourhood Plan, Initial Survey Results April 2021
Survey was undertaken in February and March 2021
A total of 165 surveys were returned out of the 477 distributed. This gives a particularly good overall response rate of 34.6%.
Main themes
Countryside and Rural Tranquility
Access to green spaces and the countryside
High value placed on walks, cycleways, and footpaths.
Next steps?
Have a Cheshire Wildlife Study?
Gather Evidence on Footpaths and PROWs
Question and Answer session
Lucy Hughes took questions from the attendees.
Chairman’s Report
The Chairman summarized the last twelve months and how hard it had been for many in the Community. The Parish Council had sadly lost Cllr Swithenbank and Cllr Nicol, but they had been replaced by three new wonderful new candidates Cllr S Lavin, Cllr A Woodfine – Jones and Cllr D Pochin. She thanked all the team for their hard work over the past twelve months.
Meeting closed at 8.30pm