Report to Ettington Parish Council

Report to Ettington Parish Council

Author: Sarah Furniss, Clerk to the Council

Date:27 July 2016

Item No: 16 / Councillor Vacancies

1Introduction

Following the resignation of Cllr John Witherford the Council has 5 vacancies, 4 for Ettington Ward and 1 for Fulready Ward. Four of the five vacancies can be recruited to using the Casual Vacancy process. Cllr Witherford’s vacancy is going through the process of notification and this will end on 4 August following which, unless an election has been requested by the requisite number of electors, this vacancy will also be able to be filled using the Casual Vacancy process.

2Next Steps

Consideration now has to be given to how recruitment to these vacancies can be progressed.

The Clerk has drafted a letter which could be sent to all households and this is at Appendix a, a flyer (previously used) at Appendix b and a Press release at Appendix c.

Enquiries have been made of Stratford District Council in respect of the possibility of them sending this out and what their costs would be. Alternatively, SDC could be asked to supply a mail-merge of properties in the Parish and a cost could be established via a commercial company. The final option would be for the Clerk to undertake the administration (estimated time 10 hours.

The costings below are an estimate based if the work is undertaken “in house”.

Postage / £250
Envelopes / £ 17
Paper / £ 5
Ink / £100
Labels / £5
Clerk’s Salary (estimate) / £150
Total / £527.00

3Action Required

To consider what actions should be taken including agreeing a maximum budget in order that the Clerk can progress this matter.

Appendix a– draft letter

Dear Householders

Parish Councillor Vacancies

I am enclosing information on being a Parish Councillor and would ask that you consider becoming one! Ettington Parish Council is at serious risk of not being able to continue and this would mean that its functions are taken over by Stratford District Council until such time as sufficient Members can be recruited.

Ettington Parish Council has approval for nine Members, eight in respect of Ettington Ward and one in respect of Fulready Ward. Over time there has been a decline in the number of Councillors and we have now reached a point where there are only four Members. Two of the Members are required to travel frequently for their work and, on occasion, cannot attend scheduled meetings. There is a requirement for three Members to be present for meetings to be able to go ahead.

The role of the Parish Council is extremely important in promoting the needs of its parishioners and below are some examples

• The Neighbourhood Plan: The Parish Council is the formal body to which the Neighbourhood Steering Group reports. Without a Parish Council the Plan cannot be progressed. The purpose of the Plan is to ensure that future development of the Parish is in line with parishioners views (you will recently have received a Housing Needs Survey in respect of the Plan and a while back residents were invited to complete a more general questionnaire about future development. Once approved the Plan is a statutory document which Stratford District Council has to refer to when making planning decisions.
• Planning Applications: The Parish Council is a statutory consultee in respect of planning applications and, as such, if it submits an objection to a plan that application has to go to Planning Committee rather than being considered by Planning Officers. This gives an opportunity for residents and the Council to attend the Committee to voice their objections in person. Examples of recent objections include:
• An 80 home application for Rye Piece Field on Rogers Lane which was refused and a subsequent appeal was refused by the Planning Inspectorate;
• Partial demolition of the White Horse with development of 4 semi-detached and 1 detached residence – refused on grounds of density which has resulted in a further application for a reduced number of homes.
• Development of a poultry farm at Tree House Farm, Fulready which was refused
• Conversion of an agricultural building to two dwellings at Manor Barn Farm, Fulready which was refused. A decision is pending in relation to a subsequent application to convert to one dwelling.
• Grants: A budget is allocated annually to support projects/initiatives in the Parish. Recent grant funding has been allocated to:
• Cheeky Chimps Toddler Group for the purchase of tables;
• The Community Centre for purchase of children’s tables (for older children than those purchased by Cheeky Chimps!)
• Funding toward the refurbishment of the church path
• Equipment to Ettington Community Speed Watch
• An annual grant is made available towards the publishing of Ettington Village News
• An annual grant is made available for improvements at the Community Centre

• Maintenance and upkeep of the Playing Field: In addition to the regular mowing of the grass, the play equipment is monitored to identify any requirements for repair and a recent survey of trees has identified a schedule of work which will be undertaken.
• Community Centre the Parish Council nominates a member to be a Trustee on the Ettington Community Trust (which manages the Community Centre)

In addition to the above there are projects on hold until we have more Councillors and these include:

• Young People’s Project: A budget has been allocated to install equipment at the Playing Field for young people. The first stage of this would be to establish what youngsters would most benefit from;
• Development of an Emergency Plan to document how the facilities in Ettington could be used to support Stratford District and Warwickshire County Council’s plans.

Despite the long lists above the time commitment required is not onerous with eleven Parish Council meetings per year (on the second Wednesday of each month apart from August), though there is an occasional requirement for extraordinary meetings to consider planning applications. No specialist knowledge is required and training is available.

Thank you for your time in reading this letter and leaflet and I do hope you will give consideration to further exploring becoming a Councillor. Please feel free to contact any of the below:

David Hughes (Chair)phone number/e-mail

RainieHoltom (Vice-Chair) “”

Rich Smith “”

Ruth Hawksworth“”

Sarah Furniss (Clerk)“”

Yours sincerely

David Hughes

Appendix c

Ettington Parish Council Needs New Councillors!

Following recent resignations Ettington Parish Council have five councillor vacancies. Councillor David Hughes, Chairman of the Council says "We have fourvacancies to represent the Ettington Ward and one to represent the Fulready Ward. No previous experience is necessary, just a wish to do the best for the community and the ability to attend Parish Council meetings (generally 11 per year). We are a friendly bunch looking for new blood willing to offerresidents of the parish a commitment toserve their best interests.".

Parish Councils have a small budget to spend and are the level of local government closest to the community. The budget supports the running costs of the Council and provides some local services, eg elements of grass cutting and street lighting, provision of play equipment and provision of small grants

Further information can be found at by phoning the Clerk to the Council on 01789 295827, or by e-mailing .