Annual Town Council Meeting

 

 

 

Dear Councillor

You are summoned to attend the ANNUAL MEETING of the Winsford Town Council to be held in the CHESHIRE WEST AND CHESTER COUNCIL CHAMBER, WYVERN HOUSE, WINSFORD CW7 1AH on Monday 21^st May 2018, commencing at 7.00pm, to take into consideration and determine the following matters.

Yours sincerely

Mark Bailey

Town Clerk/Finance Officer

 

The meeting will open with prayers by the representative of the Mayor’s Chaplain (Matt Woolley)

 

PART 1 – ANNUAL MEETING

 

1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Members must provide apologies to the Town Clerk before 5.00pm on the day of the meeting, together with reasons for their absence.

 

2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members to declare any interest under the following categories: –

• Disclosable Pecuniary Interest
• Outside Bodies Interest
• Family, Friend or Close Associate Interest

 

3. REMARKS BY THE RETIRING TOWN MAYOR

 The retiring Town Mayor – Cllr Mike Kennedy – will say a few words about his year in office.

 

4. MAYOR’S CHARITIES 2017/18

 The retiring Town Mayor will present cheques to his chosen charities of St Luke’s and the Winsford Youth & Community Forum from funds raised during his year in office

 

5. VOTE OF THANKS TO THE RETIRING TOWN MAYOR, COUNCILLOR MIKE KENNEDY

 Members will propose a vote of thanks to the retiring Winsford Town Mayor, Cllr Mike Kennedy.

(NOTE: A Schedule (to follow) will detail nominees, representatives and proposers to be referred to in consideration of agenda items 6, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20).

 

6. ELECTION OF TOWN MAYOR FOR THE 2018/19 MUNICIPAL YEAR

A Member of the Town Council will be nominated and seconded by other Members of the Town Council, with the matter then put to a vote of the full Town Council for approval.

 

7. THE 2018/19 TOWN MAYOR

The 2017/18 incoming Town Mayor will make the declaration and acceptance of office and agree to observe the Town Council’s Members’ Code of Conduct.

   

8. INVESTITURE OF THE 2018/19 WINSFORD TOWN MAYOR

 The 2017/18 Town Mayor will formally take the office of Town Mayor of Winsford for the 2017/18 Municipal Year.

(NOTE: Following the investiture, the newly elected Mayor will take the Chair)

 

9. INVESTITURE OF THE TOWN MAYORS CONSORT/MAYORESS

The 2018/19 Town Mayor’s Consort/Mayoress will take office for the 2018/19 Municipal Year. The retiring Mayoress – Mrs Hilary Kennedy – will perform the ceremony of handing over the badge of office.

 

10. PRESENTATION TO THE RETIRING TOWN MAYOR

The new Town Mayor will present a past mayor’s badge to the retiring Town Mayor.

 

11. PRESENTATION TO THE RETIRING MAYORESS

The newly elected Consort/Mayoress will present a past Mayoress badge to the retiring Mayoress.

 

12. THE 2018/19 WINSFORD TOWN MAYOR

The new Town Mayor for Winsford will say a few words looking forward to their year in office.

 

13. ELECTION OF THE 2018/19 DEPUTY TOWN MAYOR

A Member of the Town Council will be nominated and seconded by other Members of the Town Council, with the matter then put to a vote of the full Town Council for approval.

 

14. THE 2018/19 DEPUTY MAYOR

The 2018/19 incoming Deputy Mayor will make the declaration and acceptance of office and agree to observe the Town Council’s Members’ Code of Conduct.

 

15. INVESTITURE OF THE DEPUTY TOWN MAYOR

The 2018/19 Deputy Town Mayor will formally take the office of Deputy Town Mayor of Winsford for the 2018/19 Municipal Year.

 

16. FINANCE COMMITTEE

All Members of the Council constitute membership of the Finance Committee.

 

17. ELECTION OF THE CHAIR OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE

A Member of the Town Council will be nominated and seconded by other Members of the Town Council, with the matter then put to a vote of the full Town Council for approval.

 

18. ELECTION OF THE VICE CHAIR OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE

A Member of the Town Council will be nominated and seconded by other Members of the Town Council, with the matter then put to a vote of the full Town Council for approval.

 

19. APPOINTMENT OF OTHER COMMITTEES/SUB-COMMITTEES/PANELS

Members of the Town Council will be nominated and seconded by other Members of the Town Council, with the matter then put to a vote of the full Town Council for approval.

 

20. APPOINTMENTS TO JOINT COMMITTEES AND REPRESENTATIVES TO OUTSIDE BODIES

Members of the Town Council will be nominated and seconded by other Members of the Town Council, with the matter then put to a vote of the full Town Council for approval.

 

21. MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING HELD ON 15^th MAY 2017

These Minutes were approved as a correct record by the Town Council at its meeting on 19^th June 2017 but are presented here for information. (‘A’)

 

22. TIMETABLE OF MEETINGS 2018/19

Members are asked to approve the attached list of dates and times for Finance Committee and Town Council meetings for 2018/19.  (‘B’)

 

  PART 2 – ORDINARY MEETING

(NOTE: The following items of business require consideration before the next scheduled meeting of the Town Council in June 2018.)

 

23. BRUNNER GUILDHALL UPDATE

Since the last meeting of the Town Council in April 2018, there have been a number of developments in relation to the Guildhall.

As Members will recall that the Open Day on 14^th April 2018 was very positive and the main messages were reported to the Brunner Guildhall Management Committee at its meeting on 20^th April 2018 (see attached report at ‘C’).

At that meeting, the Management Committee also considered the rest of the report, which set out the next steps in terms of the project designed to renovate the building and bring it back into use.

The main points covered by the report were: –

• To start work on developing the project viability report required by the Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF) as a condition of their grant awarded to the Town Council in April 2018
• The report proposed to use the money allocated to the viability stage of the project (a total of £14,200 – made up of AHF funding; CWAC Member funding; and Town Council funds) to approach appropriate professionals (as per the guidance issued by the AHF) to work on the different aspects of the project viability report (which include heritage; community engagement; building condition; the economy of the local area; and conservation issues)
• The main point of the project viability report is to set out the three main options identified for future use of the building and present them with all their pros and cons

The Management Committee agreed to proceed on this basis and, as a result, the Town Council is working with Andrew Fielding of A & A Fielding Ltd. Andrew Fielding has considerable experience of working on similar projects including the Lions Salt Works. He has assumed a role of project co-ordination and has brought other key professionals along including Donald Insall Associates (from an architectural/quantity surveying perspective) and also Christine Chadwick, who will work on the community engagement and business planning side of the project.

The project viability report needs to be completed by September 2018.

In addition to this work, the Management Committee also considered the issue of what sort of trust should be established to manage both the renovation work and also the building itself in the longer term. This decision will be based very much on what the building will be used for but discussions will begin at the Annual Parish Meeting which is to take place at the Winsford Academy on Tuesday 29^th May 2018.

Finally, the damp course work on the building has almost been completed save for areas where radiators will need to be removed and the Winsford Branch of the Royal British Legion will be permitted to store some equipment in the building.

RECOMMENDED              

Members are asked to note and endorse the points set out above, as per the decisions made by the Brunner Guildhall Management Committee at its meeting on 20^th April 2018 – see attached minutes at ‘D’.

Members are also asked to formally approve the cost of the damp course work, carried out by Atlantis at a cost of £13,030.00 (excluding VAT).

 

24. GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION/DATA PROTECTION AND RETENTION POLICY

Members will recall that, at the April 2018 meeting of the Town Council, there was an item covering the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and its implications for Winsford Town Council.

One of the key areas requiring action for the Council was the appointment of a Data Protection Officer (DPO) ahead of GDPR going ‘live’ on 25^th May 2018. Since that meeting, it has been announced that the Government plans to dispense with the legal requirement for town/parish councils to have a DPO, but it is still regarded as best practice to do so. At the Finance Committee meeting of April 2018, Winsford Town Council agreed to appoint JDH Business Services (the Council’s internal auditor) as the DPO.

Following on from these decisions, the Town Clerk met with John Henry of JDH Business Services on 4^th May 2018 to review the Town Council’s position in terms of preparation for GDPR.

During this meeting, the following areas were covered: –

• Review of the Council’s existing Information Commissioners Office (ICO) registration
• Review of the list of data subjects/processors for the Council
• Review of existing policies – see below
• Review of data security – electronic and manual documents
• Review of the consents required by the Council to deliver its services
• Privacy notices required by the Council

A full report on the meeting is being prepared by JDH Business Services and will be presented to the Town Council when available. This will include a list of actions for the Council to carry out as part of their preparation for GDPR.

One key action for the Council to undertake is to ensure that its Data Protection and Retention Policy is up to date. The current policy was approved in October 2016.

An updated version of the Policy is to be found at ‘E’ and takes into account the changes brought about by GDPR and also the findings of the review outlined above.

RECOMMENDED              

Members are asked to note the developments outlined above and to approve or otherwise the revised Data Protection and Retention Policy of the Town Council presented here.

 

25. WELLBEING UPDATE

A verbal update will be provided on the work of the Wellbeing Winsford group from Cllr Ailsa Gaskill-Jones.

 

26. WINSFORD TWINNING ASSOCIATION

Members are asked to note the minutes of the Twinning Association meeting held on 24^th April 2018 (‘F’).

The minutes outline the discussions which took place at the meeting, including the following points: –

• To conduct research into the community’s views of twinning via social media; local press and other channels (including local events and the Annual Parish Meeting)
• It was also decided to approach local businesses for their views
• The results of this research will inform any future Town Council decision on the matter

 

27. GREEDY PIG SITE (LAND ADJOINING A54 AND RIVER WEAVER)

Winsford Town Council and PSP Cheshire West and Chester LLP have previously entered into a two-year Option Agreement to bring forward development of this site.

The current option agreement is due to expire on 13^th June 2018 and needs to be renewed on the same terms to allow a planning application to be prepared, submitted and consented pursuant to the sale of this site (which will realise a capital receipt for the Town Council).

A new Option Agreement is proposed on the same terms as the existing Option Agreement. The Agreement itself has been circulated to Members, but is not attached to this agenda as it is commercially sensitive information.

RECOMMENDED              

Members are asked to approve renewal of the Option Agreement

 

28. SCHEDULE OF ACCOUNTS/2017-18 BUDGET REVIEW

A schedule of accounts which will require payment before the next ordinary meeting of the Town Council’s Finance Committee is attached (‘G’) and a review of the 2017-18 Town Council budget is also attached (‘H’)

Agenda

Agenda Documents Table

Agenda	Download
Agenda Annual Meeting 21.05.18