Agenda item

To receive a report from the Monitoring Officer on the ongoing Community
Governance Review.

Public Participation

Mr Ioan Rees, the organiser of a petition, spoke in support of the formation of a new parish of Derry Hill & Studley.

Mr Keith Robbins as a petitioner spoke in support of the formation of a new parish of Derry Hill & Studley.

The Chairman presented a report detailing all of the gathered information received during the initial stages of the Community Governance Review, including details of responses to an online survey and details of electorate projections, parish council views and notes from public meetings.

The Committee then discussed the areas under review and the various proposals which had been received along with public and parish views on those proposals. The Committee debated each area and agreed draft recommendations to be consulted upon, along with reasons for each recommendation.

Beechingstoke

Following the online meetings, online survey, and letters which had been sent to all residents in Beechingstoke, several people had made expressions of interest in putting themselves forward to become a parish councillor and to re-form a temporary parish council.

The Local Member, Cllr Oatway QPM, had offered to sit on the parish council and provide his support in its formation. It was noted that the Monitoring Officer could temporarily appoint members to a parish council where one was absent.

The Committee felt that the recent local interest to revive a parish council should be supported, and therefore agreed to conclude the process at this stage. It was noted that should the parish council revival not be successful, the Committee would then be able to undertake a further review for Beechingstoke at a later date.

Calne Area

The Committee discussed the proposals which had been submitted by petitioners, Calne Town Council, Compton Bassett Parish Council, Hilmarton Parish Council and Bremhill Parish Council. It discussed each parish within the Calne area in turn, including those who had not submitted any specific proposals, reviewing the governance arrangements against the statutory criteria for community governance reviews.

The Committee was persuaded that significant changes were appropriate to reflect the identity and interests of the local communities, and provide more effective and convenient local governance, and made recommendations for each parish as detailed fully in the Draft Recommendations and summarised in the resolution. In particular, it considered that many parts of Calne Without would be more appropriately transferred to other parishes, and accordingly that the remaining part of the parish should be renamed to reflect its identity.

Malmesbury and St Paul Malmesbury without

The Committee discussed the proposals which had been submitted by Malmesbury Town Council and St Paul Malmesbury Without Parish Council. The Committee also considered the updated information relating to discussions between the parish councils on possible options.

The Committee discussed the parishes at length and determined that the current arrangements particularly around the Burton Hill and Cowbridge area, being a built-up urban area, did not reflect the identity or interests of the communities. They reviewed both parishes in full, including their relationship with surrounding parishes, and made recommendations as detailed fully in the Draft Recommendations and summarised in the resolution. In particular, they considered the Burton Hill and Cowbridge area should be transferred to the town and resolved to recommend consulting on an option to transfer the area at Milbourne to the parish of Charlton, as it could not remain within St Paul Malmesbury Without if the Burton Hill area were transferred.

The Chairman summarised the individual proposals for each of the areas before the Committee took a vote.

Resolved:

To delegate Director of Legal and Governance in consultation with the Chairman the preparation of a detailed draft recommendations document, including reasons for any change, to be consulted upon.

The proposals are summarised below in general terms, and set out in full in the Draft Recommendations, including associated governance arrangement changes such as warding and councillor numbers

·         Beechingstoke – to take no further action

·         Charlton (St Peter) and Wilsford – to combine the parishes under a joint parish council

·         Calne Town – to recommend the Marden/Rookery Farm, land off Low Lane and appeal granted development land to the west of the town be transferred from Calne Without

·         Bremhill – to transfer the areas requested by the Parish Council from Langley Burrell Without, Christian Malford and Calne Without into Bremhill, and a small area from Bremhill to Langley Burrell Without.

·         Hilmarton – to transfer a small area from Calne Without

·         Compton Bassett – to transfer the areas as requested by the parish council from Calne Without and Cherhill

·         Cherhill – to transfer an area of Calne Without including Lower Compton and Calstone Wellington, from Calne Without to Cherhill.

·         Heddington – to transfer the area of Middle Ward of Calne Without, minus the area around Marden/Rookey Farm, to Heddington

·         Calne Without – to transfer a small area from the parish of Bromham to Calne Without, and rename the parish Derry Hill and Studley

·         Malmesbury – to transfer the area of Burton Hill and Cowbridge from St Paul Malmesbury Without

·         Brokenborough – to transfer a small area from St Paul Malmesbury Without into Brokenborough

·         Charlton – to transfer the area of Milbourne from St Paul Malmesbury into Charlton.

Councillors Clark, Thorn, and Wheeler left the meeting after taking part in discussion and were not present for the vote.