Councillorsengaged with members of the public as recorded below:

Diamond Jubilee

A member of the public, speaking on behalf of other residents,asked the Council to consider providing a long-standing memorial to the Queen. A councillor replied that a meeting to discuss initiatives for the Jubilee had been arranged for the following evening. All residents were welcome to attend and exchange views.

Trees in Front of the Parade of Shops

A member of the Shevington in Bloom Committee reported that only three trees would be planted in front of the parade of shops, not four, as previously suggested.

Council Minutes

A resident observed that the minutes of the Council meeting on 15 December had only been issued two days before the current meeting, despite there being a long period of time between the two meetings. The resident stated that she would like to see them published earlier than that.

The ‘Beat It’ Team

A resident involved in Shevington Recreation Ground litter picking activities expressed dis-satisfaction with the work ethic of the ‘Beat It’ team. The team had been assigned the task of collecting litter from the recreation ground. This had coincided with the first occasion that the volunteer litter pickers had visited the area. The resident had spotted the ‘Beat It’ team vehicle with two men sitting inside it – one of the men was asleep – when they should have been working and had had a conversation with them about this. The resident had later lodged a complaint with Wigan Council. Dist Cllr Collins reported that he had followed this up and that one of the managers was looking into the matter.

The Extra-Ordinary Meeting of the Council Held on 19 January 2012

A resident who had attended the Finance Committee meeting held on 12 January observed that at that meeting it had been stated that the meeting scheduled for the following week would be cancelled. The resident took the view that the previous week’s meeting should not have taken place, because some members of the public who had wished to comment on the budget and precept had not been able to attend on that date to do this. A councillor explained that the Extra-Ordinary meeting had been held the previous week because information about the budget and precept which was to be included on the LA’s Council Tax letter to residents had to be forwarded to the LA before the end of January. Two councillors had objected to the fact that the meeting had been called.

The Orica Development

A member of the public asked whether anyone on the Parish Council was keeping an eye on the building works on the Orica site. Members replied that people from the Planning Department at Wigan visited the site regularly to check on the development and that the Parish Council had commented on events taking place in the area, bringing concerns to the attention of the relevant bodies.

The resident expressed concern about the number of trees (and the large sizes of the diameters of their tree trunks) that he had witnessed being taken away from the site recently. Members advised that this had been raised at the Council’s recent meeting with the Deputy Chief Executive. Everyone recognised that Cllr Bridge had done an excellent job in trying to prevent the culling of so many ancient trees.

A member observed that the TPO covering trees on the Orica site had meant nothing. The LA’s Trees & Woodlands officer had given permission for all trees that had been identified as needing to be removed to be cut. It had been agreed that these would be replaced. More recently the developers had applied for permission to cut down trees on the perimeter of the northern site. They had stated that the trees in question were all Scots pines and poplars, but there were also 16 oaks on that boundary. The Planning Department had advised that all houses on the development would be screened by trees, but now trees were being taken down so that the new houses could be seen.

The same member also observed that the owner of 88 Gathurst Lane had recently received planning permission to build in his back garden. Eleven trees would be felled to accommodate this.

In response to a question from a resident about whether it was known how many trees there were in the wood, the member replied that no one knew the answer to that question. Equally no one knew how many were being cut down. The Chair observed that all these issues had been raised with the Deputy Chief Executive.

Dog Fouling

A resident observed that there was a serious problem with dog fouling in the vicinity of Randall’s Corner and that he had asked one his local councillors about the possibility of posters being attached to lamp posts asking people to clear their dog litter away. The Chair replied that the LA had made a decision some time ago to cease placing such signs on lamp posts. The Vice Chair reported that she had recently spoken to an officer at the LA about the problem and how it could be tackled. The officer had advised of the possibility of a campaign during the summer.

Other members reported that there were parish-wide problems with dog fouling, but that the law was unenforceable, because owners had to be caught in the act of not clearing their dogs’ litter away in order to be prosecuted successfully.

In relation to the proposals to increase the bin provision, a member of the public observed that there was no point in doing this unless people actually made use of them.

Christmas Tree for Shevington Moor

A resident from Shevington Moor expressed concern that the provision of a Christmas tree for the area had been approved without any consultation. Residents representing at least 16 households in Shevington Moor had attended a meeting at his house the previous week and had voted that, because of more than 115 years of neglect, they had no confidence in the Parish Council.

When asked by a member whether his comments meant that residents did not want a Christmas tree for the area, the resident replied that they did, but they wanted and needed other things first, such as a village green and a centre at which the community could meet. The area had lost its village green some years ago when it had been built on. There had been no attempt by the Parish Council to prevent this happening.

A member asked where the representatives of the other 500 households in Shevington Moor had been when the vote of no confidence had been taken.

Another member observed that there should be a consultation on the subject of the Christmas tree provision. It had been noted that there had been a low response to the consultation on the subject of the notice board.

Redress for Non-Delivery of First Newsletter

A resident asked whether there had been any progress with regard to receiving any redress for the non-delivery of the first newsletter. The Chair replied that an improved offer had been made, but had been considered to still be too low. The Clerk explained that taking out Small Claims Court procedures would cost more than the Parish Council were potentially owed and the fee was only repayable if the Council won the case.

Page 1 of 3 Appendix A: 26 January 2012