High Legh Implementation Group
Minutes
Tuesday 17th July2012
Village Hall Meeting Room 7:30pm
Present: Chris Johnson (Chair), John Cope, Jason Allan, Peter Marsland, Tim Pearce, Marja Haigh (Notes)
Apologies: Bruce Adams, Jenny Pearce
Minutes of the last meeting: Accepted as a true record
Matters arising: See Item 5 on Agenda
Change to the Constitution: Option 1 was chosen by all present; this option is to change the Constitution as follows:
MJH 2012
High Legh Implementation Group
The Chair shall not also be the Chairman of the Parish Council and shall be a resident of the Parish.
The effect of the proposed amendment is to substitute “the Chairman” for ‘a member’ which enables Bruce to remain as Chair.
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High Legh Implementation Group
Feedback from Working Groups:
Bus report: Peter went through his report; CEC are hoping to save £500,000.00 by cutting back some of the support they currently give to bus services, by Flexible transport e.g. Dial-a-Ride or through Community transport i.e. car sharing or volunteers.
Both bus services, 289 & 47, are going to have continued support from CEC.
The bus service 37 has not got any support form CEC.
Tim Pearce was wondering whether the P.C. could support the No. 37, query to be taken to the P.C.'s financial committee.
Village Appearance:
An Open Evening was held in June to show the 4 proposals for the Belfry Entrance. 51 residents turned up to view the plans and to vote. Option 2 was the clear winner. 3 quotes and the necessary permissions are now being sought.
The final design will provide the basis for commercial sponsorship and external funding.
CEC will jet wash the Belfry entrance wall.
The lettering will be replaced and the P.C. will be maintaining the planting at the entrance.
The VA group will have a slot for Sunday Teas on September 2nd.
The grit boxes are to be replaced with permission from CEC.
John Cope is proposing to make an application from the Airport Community Fund for 2013 for the alteration to the path leading from Pheasant Walk to Surridge.
Chris mentioned that McDonalds had proposed to put a bin in the lay by nearest to the Truck stop, but this idea has been dropped.
QOC:
Thanks to Martin Smith for all the hard work he has put in regarding the Broadband.
It looks now that B.T. Client in the village are now receiving a much faster service, even some residents who did not think they would have the fast service.
Seeking to improve the broadband availability in the Parish is proving to be a long task. There is now good news for 40% of the Parish, but we have a long way to go.
After high level escalation with BT Openreach and Scottish Power, assisted by George Osborne's office, the new Superfast Broadband cabinet that serves the north of the village has been commissioned. If you live in Pheasant Walk, Rensherd's Place, Arley End, etc. you should now be able to receive download speeds of 24 Mbps or better if you upgrade your ISP package. The cost of this fast service with BT is about £30/month, but by using other suppliers or buying a package of services it should be possible to get a better deal.
Unfortunately, all of the Belfry and Woodlands Crescent appear to be served by long direct exchange lines from Lymm Exchange and therefore cannot receive the new service. Properties on North Drive, Kinderton Close and Venables Way may be able to receive the new service. Previously BT Openreach indicated that these roads would not be covered, but recently we know that some residents have been offered the improved service. The reason for the uncertainty is that the BT website works mainly on your post code. It is only when you actually apply for Superfast broadband that a detailed check is made on your telephone line.
Most of the more rural properties outside the village centre are served by long direct exchange lines from Lymm, Arley and Bucklow Hill Exchanges. The latter two exchanges we understand have not been upgraded for Superfast Broadband yet.
BT Openreach have advised us that there is no prospect of them doing any further upgrade work in our Parish without the benefit of a subsidy. The Cheshire Broadband partnership is putting in place a £40m project funded from EU, Central Government and Local Government sources, with the aim of achieving Superfast Broadband availability for at least 90% of the historic County by the end of 2014. The Parish Plan working group is linked into this activity and will be seeking to ensure that High Legh is included to the maximum extent possible within this programme. However, the earliest that anyone will benefit is probably mid-2013, and the direct exchange line problem in High Legh may be regarded as 'more difficult' when prioritising the upgrades.
We will continue to look at other options to expedite an improvement of services, at least within the main village.
Speed:
There is no report
John Cope informed us that 'Smiley Sid' is now able to record the speed data from 250.000 cars, which can be downloaded by CEC.
There seem to be two types of drivers, with only a small percentage driving at over 40 mph.
Financial Report:
There is very little to support; there is just the hire of the hall for the VA Group and our meetings.
Members were reminded to claim their expenses
A.O.B:
Jason Allan brought forwards the issue that all official communication has to be put through the P.C., no communication to be sent to individuals without this having been
authorised by the P.C.
All minutes from each Working Group must be sent to Doreen Walker.
Tim Pearce stated that the projector can be installed when the refurbishment of the Village Hall has been completed; this is likely to be finished by November 2012.
The Queen's Jubilee bench has been installed outside the Village Hall.
The 'What's On in High Legh' is up and running again; any items to be emailed to:
or contact 01925 756171
Meeting closed: 20:40
Next Meeting:
18th September : Both Chris Johnson and Marja Haigh will be away
20th November
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